Child Begging in Chandigarh-A Survey Report

As per the Indian Penal Code, 1860, begging refers to ‘the practice of soliciting or receiving alms in a public or private place by any means ’. Using a minor as an exhibit for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms is considered as begging and is punishable under Section 363 A of the IPC. A survey was carried out in June 2016 in East areas of Chandigarh. This paper aims to bring forward the ugly face of Child Begging in our City Beautiful. Having being amongst the most perfect city of the world (as per BBC), this practice still prevails in our city. Objectives included carrying out survey on child beggars by the means of Headcounts and Interview, reporting cases of Child Labour and other emergency cases that required immediate attention. Inclusive survey, Headcount and Interview Schedule were adopted as methods of carrying out the survey. The survey revealed that out of 274 headcounts 191 were males and 93 were females indicating the sex ratio in this practice. It was also found that these children had been pushed into beggary by parents or unfavourable circumstances. Prominent States from where they are coming are Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It was concluded that efforts should be made to increase faith in the authorities. Awareness should be created among the citizens for not giving money or alms to beggars. Allocation of more resources to the helplines should be done for their effective response.