NEW DELHI(PTI): Indian government has launched a welfare scheme for street children in the country’s 11 most populous cities during the current financial year.
In a written reply, welfare minister Sita Ram Kesri, informed Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament that the said scheme would also cover children who live in slums but spend most of their time on the streets or working in street trades such as petty vending, shoe shining, manual jobs as coolies, helpers, cleaners and rickshaw pullers. Kesn said the scheme provides for non-formal education, vocational training, health checkup, nutrition, counselling to children and families and organizing recreation for the disadvantaged, neglected and ambushed children. He said greater Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Madras, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmed, Bad, Pune, Kanpur, Nagpur and Lucknow were the cities being covered under the scheme.
Kesri said a sum of Rs 80 million had been allocated for the scheme during the eighth five year plan. It provides for implementation through voluntary organizations and monitoring through city level task forces.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 14, 1993
