INTRODUCTION

Even after fifty-five years of independence, we are still struggling with the menace rampant in our society. One of such menace is �begging� which is responsible for major loss of productivity & manpower in the country. Beggars are like the living dead bodies that can not be disposed off. Begging is considered as an offence by the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959. This act is applicable in Delhi too. Though, right to primary education has been included as a fundamental right in our Constitution, rights of destitutes & child beggars, to proper educational & vocational training are not considered as fundamental rights so far.

PROBLEM UNDERTAKEN

Child begging is the embryo stage of begging. When a child enters the profession of begging, his only intention for it is to support his family financially. But gradually he develops as a beggar & loses his productivity. The problem here is the loss of productivity of the nation on account of child begging. The children of a country are considered as its future but when these children themselves resort to begging to fulfill their needs, what would be the future of that country. That is why the problem of child begging has struck my mind. The present research is conducted on the Etiology of Child Begging.

JUSTIFICATION

Begging is prevalent in India since early times & donation of alms to beggars is considered a sacred act in Hindu Mythology. But, now begging is taken as a commercial activity. This reduces the efficacy and productivity of a nation which has a direct bearing on its economy & work culture. Initially, children adopt begging as a source of support to

their family & increase in their income but gradually due to lack of education and other training, they do not find any other means to increase their earning & adopt it as a profession & are reluctant to leave it. If proper training and education along with employment of similar or more earning be provided to these child beggars, they can switch over to other employment options & preserve their constructivity & productivity. It also helps to prevent them of being addicted to begging & can solve a major problem of the society. It can also preserve the greatest asset of the country from being spoiled.

OBJECTIVES

The research on �child begging� is conducted to find out the reasons &causes behind it. The study also aims to find out the solution for its prevention. Our existing law is not clear about the position of child beggars and steps for prevention of child begging. Though the National Child Policy and Supreme Court laid emphasis on proper educational & vocational training to child beggars but the training facilities are not properly provided to the beggars. In most of the cases, child beggars are released without proper stipulated training mentioned in the Act. Further, even if the training is provided, it is insufficient & not useful for the child to get employment. There is no sincere attempt to provide employment to those children to make them self-dependant. Providing proper & useful educational & vocational training with honest intention can help the child beggars to get employment & become useful citizens of the society.

HYPOTHESIS

While making inquiry in the identified problem - �Etiology of child begging�, I came across various literature & views of people. All these things led me to draw the hypothesis that is stated as follows: -

Poverty among children is the main cause of child begging.

This Hypothesis has two variables: -

The Independent variable is: - � Child Begging�

The Dependant variable is: -� Poverty among children�

These variables are not abstract concepts. They signify a relationship, which is testable.

Poverty of the children & their families is the factor that led the children to beg. Being poor & not able to get basic amenities, children are poised to support their family by carrying something for the family. But due to lack of education & training, they find begging as the easiest option for them. Therefore, poverty bears direct relation with the child begging. Child begging is the independent variable & poverty among children is the dependent variable.

OPERATIONALISATION

The variables in the hypothesis have a defined meaning.

�Child�, according to Juvenile Justice (care & protection of children) Act, 2000 means,

the one who is below 18 years of age.

The term �begging� according to juvenile justice act, 2000 means: -

(i) Soliciting or receiving alms in a public place or entering into private premises, for

the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms whether under any pretence;

(ii) exposing or exhibiting with the object of obtaining or extorting alms, any sore, wound, injury, deformity or disease, whether of himself or of any other person or of an animal;

The term �poverty� is taken in general sense & means the inability to gather essential amenities required for living a normal life.

LIMITATIONS

Though it was my noble desire to carry out an extensive research on the subject but due to paucity of time & financial limitations, I could not carry out the research on a very

large scale. I could select only 20 samples Moreover the research is limited to the geographical area of �Hanuman Temple� in Yamuna Bazaar, Delhi.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Begging is prevalent in India from ancient times. Also donations to beggars is considered pious and noble act in Hindu Mythology. Donation to weaker section, infirm and unable is considered as a sacred act. But in modern India, in the era of commercialization, begging turns out to be an employment for even capable persons. To prevent this mass scale commercial begging, �The Bombay prevention of begging act, 1959 (Bombay act no. 10 of 1960)� is enacted and its application is extended to Delhi also. The Act considers begging as an offence. The offences committed by children below 18 years are covered by the Juvenile Justice (care & protection of children) Act 2000. Though the begging was not considered as an offence for the children covered under the Old Juvenile Act. Rather, those children were covered under the category of �neglected child� under the old Act. But the new Juvenile justice Act 2000 is silent about the consideration of child beggars either as juvenile in conflict of law or as neglected child.

However, programme no. 8 of National Policy of Children declared by resolution no. 1-14/74 Dated 22-08-1974 envisages that the children who are socially handicapped, who have become delinquent or have been forced to take to begging or are otherwise in distress shall be provided facilities for education, training and rehabilitation and will be helped to become useful citizens.

Also, Supreme Court in its judgement in Gaurav Jain Versus U.O.I. and others (AIR 1997 Supreme Court 3021) interpreted that in cases a delinquent juvenile who commits an offence like begging, being the neglected juvenile, is covered as neglected

juvenile and should not be treated as delinquent juvenile since he begin begging due to destitution or was forced to beg by organized gangsters.

Though the judgement was delivered when the old Act was in force but its true purport was for the reforms of child beggars as the social conditions led them to begging.

I have not come across with any Empirical research on the Etiology of child begging & its solution, though the provision of training has been mentioned in the Act, National policy and Supreme Court�s judgement.

METHODOLOGY

As this study is a non-doctrinal one and to be carried out in a very limited time with an intention to collect most authentic data, the research tool selected is interview schedule. Structured questions are asked to elicit the opinion of the respondent. Both close ended and open-ended questions are asked in order to understand and analyze the problem in comprehensive manner & in the light of all related aspects thereof.

SAMPLING

For the purposes of this study, a sample size of 20 child beggars is taken. The small sample size has been taken due to shortage of time available because the study is to be conducted in a very limited time.

The respondents are chosen purposively. Because of the shortage of time & money, geographical area is limited to �Hanuman Temple� of Yamuna Bazaar, Delhi only, as child beggars are easily available there.

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

The Methodology followed in interview schedule is summarized as follows

1. Same questionnaire is used for interview of all the respondents. It is annexed herewith as Annexure�A�.

2. Questionnaire is prepared in English but keeping in view the educational background and understanding of the respondents, question are asked in Hindi.

Part � II

ABOUT SURVEY CONDUCTED

I often see the children begging at places like temples, railway stations & bus terminals etc. Every time I see the children begging, I think about their future & the reason, which led them to beg. So when I was asked to carry out empirical research I choose the topic of �Etiology of child begging�. I then form the hypothesis that ---

�Poverty of the children is the main cause of begging�. I searched the place where child beggars could be easily available. I then choose �Hanuman Temple� to interview child beggars as there are large number of child beggars begging around Hanuman Temple.

I decided to interview 20 children who could answer my question among the beggars.

All the respondents were picked purposively, which in fact gave authenticity to my research on the subject.

In the course of conducting interview, most of the respondents refused to cooperate with me until I assured them to provide them some money in lieu of interview which I agree to give.

Almost all the respondents were begging there to add some money to their family.

On the basis of interview schedule & data collected from the interviews, I analysed the data that in fact supported my hypothesis.

DATA ANALYSIS

As all the respondent interviewed are involved in begging, the same question were asked from them to find out the reason of their begging & about their perspective interest in begging.

1. The age groups of the respondents interviewed are as shown below in Table 1.

TABLE - 1

Analysis of above Table shows that most of the respondents i.e. 75% of the total respondents belonged to the age group of 9-13 years.

2. Out of 20 respondent 11 were girls and 9 were boys.

3. The education of the respondents interviewed is shown below in Table 2.

TABLE � 2

Analysis of Table 2 shows that entire respondents interviewed were not studied above primary level.20% of the respondents were illiterate & 80% were studied upto primary level.

4. The earnings of entire respondents interviewed are as shown in Table 3

TABLE � 3

4. Earnings of families of the respondents are as shown below in Table 4

TABLE - 4

5. Educational Qualification of entire respondent�s father is shown in Table 5

TABLE- 5

The above Table shows that 40% of the respondent�s father were illiterate, 25% were studied upto primary level, 25% upto Higher secondary level and 5 % were studied upto secondary & above.1 respondent was not aware about his father�s qualification.

7.Educational Qualification of entire respondent�s mother is given below

TABLE - 6

The above Table shows that 75% of the respondent�s mother were illiterate, 20% were studied upto primary level. None of the Respondents mother was studied above primary level. 1 respondent was not aware about his mother�s qualification.

8. No. of family members of the respondents are shown below in the Table 7

TABLE--7

9. Out of 20 respondent 16 were not satisfied with begging & 4 were satisfied with it .

10. All the 20 respondent wanted to leave begging if proper training of employment is

provided to them.

11. All the 20 respondent wanted to leave begging if they got similar earning from other

occupation.

12. All the respondent were begging voluntarily without any force or pressure from any

person including their parents.

13. The accommodation level of the respondents is shown in Table 8.

TABLE - 8

14. 16 out 20 respondent were never caught while begging whereas 4 of them have been

arrested.

15. Out of the 4 respondent caught while begging, all were released just after being

caught.

From the analysis of the above data, it is clear that most respondents are living in poverty & are living in Jhuggi clusters. Further most of the respondents have family members between 5- 8 in numbers.

Table 3 shows that 90% of the respondent are earning less than RS 1000 from begging . while 10 % of the respondent are earning between RS 1001-2000.

Table 4 shows that 40% of the respondent�s family earning were RS 2000/- & 55% of the respondent�s family earnings were between RS 2001-4000. Only 5% of the respondent�s family earnings were above RS 4000/-.

Table 7 shows that in case of most of the respondents, no. of family members are 5 or more than 5 . Family members of 65% of the respondents ranging between 5 - 8 in numbers. Family members of 15% of the respondents were between 9-12 in number. This shows that due to more family member, amount available per family member was very low.

Also, Table 8 shows that 90% of the respondent were living in Jhuggi cluster, which shows that most of respondents, were unable to bear the expense of proper accommodation

OBSERVATIONS

During the research, I observed the following facts:-

(i) That the behaviour of police personals posted at Hanuman Temple was very rash towards child beggars. They even used force to scatter the beggars.

(ii) That almost all the beggars were desperate for other employment options if provided to them.

(iii) During interview, almost all the beggars told that they came there for begging to get some money & food for their family.

(iv) That the authorities were not serious for the rehabilitation of these child beggars.

(v) Mothers of most of the respondents were illiterate due to which respondents were not getting educational atmosphere & proper guidance at their home. Though as per the respondents, their parents did not force them to beg but as children were not strictly prevented from begging, they were passively supported for begging by their parents.

RESULT

From the analysis of the above data and Tables, my hypothesis that �poverty is the main

cause of child begging�, stands proved.

CONCLUSION & SUGGESTIONS

From the research, following facts come out:-

(i) Poverty is the main cause behind child begging.

(ii) Illiteracy is also responsible factor behind child begging.

(iii) Proper training & employment is required for children living in poverty to deter

them from begging.

Most of the children involved in begging belonged to the age group of 9-13 years & were desperate to leave begging if other employment is provided to them even of similar earning. Our present laws are not in favour of child employment due to which most of the

children are not able to get employment & have to resort to begging for earning. Thus, even our present laws are not helpful in prevention of child begging & require reconsideration & review. It is submitted that the state should provide proper training to

children for their employment. Besides it, some part time employment should also be provided to them to serve their purpose & cater their needs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

LIST OF CASES

Gaurav Jain versus U.O.I. & others (AIR 1997 Supreme Court 3021)

ACTS & RULES

1. The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959

2. Delhi Prevention of Begging Rules, 1960

3. Juvenile Justice (care & protection act of children) Act, 2000

Annexure �A�

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

Dear Respondent,

This research is being conducted on �reasons & causes for child begging� as a part of our curriculum for non-doctrinal research report, which is to be submitted to the �Faculty of Law, University of Delhi�. I request you to please fill the questionnaire below and oblige. I assure you that the information mention below will not be misused: -

1.Name :

2.Age(In Years) :

(a) 4 - 8 (b) 9 - 13 (c) 14 - 18

3.Sex : (a) Male (b) Female

4.Educational Qualification

(Tick whichever is applicable)

(a) Illiterate (b) Upto Primary

(c) Upto Higher Secondary (d) Secondary & above

5. How much you earn from Begging? (Earnings/month in RS.)

(a) Up to 1000 (b)1001-2000

(c) 3001-4000 (d) 4000&above

6. No. of family members:

(a) 0 - 4 (b) 5 - 8

(c) 9 - 12 (d)Above12

7. Economic Status of your Family (earnings/month in RS.)

(Tick whichever is applicable)

(a) Upto 2000 (b) 2001-4000

(c) 4001-6000 (d) 6001&above

8. Educational Qualification of Father

(a) Illiterate (b) Upto Primary

(c) Upto Higher Secondary (d) Secondary & above

9. Educational Qualification of Mother

(a) Illiterate (b) Upto Primary

(c) Upto Higher Secondary (d) Secondary & above

10. Are you satisfied with begging? Yes/No

11. If yes, please specify the reasons

(a) Easy earning (b) Less work

(c) Sufficient earning (d) Tension free work

11. Would you continue begging if any other training for other employment is provided to you

Yes/No

12. If yes, please specify the reasons

(a) Easy earning (b) Less work

(c) Sufficient earning (d) Tension free work

13. Would you leave begging if you get similar earning from other occupation

Yes/No

14. If no, please specify the reasons

(a) Easy earning (b) Less work

(c) Sufficient earning (d) Tension free work

15.. A re you forced or Solicited by someone to beg Yes/No

16. If yes, please specify

(a) Parents (b)Gangster

(c)Local Mafia (d) Others

17. If forced, have you disclosed this fact to any authority

Yes/No

18. If no, please specify the reasons

(a) Due to fear (b) Due to ignorance

19. Do you have any home? Yes/No

20. If yes, where do you live?

(a)Jhuggi Cluster (b) Rented accommodation

(c) Own House

21. Have you found any difficulty while begging Yes/No

22. Have you ever been caught while begging Yes/No

23. If yes, were you released just after being caught Yes/No

24. If no, were you sent to any training centre Yes/No

25. If yes, was any training provided to you Yes/No

26. If yes, please specify the type of training you get

27. If the training provided is beneficial to you in earning similar amount of money from other work

Yes/No

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