STREET CHILDREN: INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL PROTECTIVE MEASURES

Abstract

Children are the future of the society and the foundation of a strong, vibrant and dynamic nation. The physical and mental health of the country is determined largely in the manner by which children are cared for in the early stages.i Justice Subba Rao observed "Social justice must start with children unless the tender plant is properly tended and nourished, it has little chances of growing into a strong and useful tree. So the priority in the scale of social justice shall be given to the welfare of children."ii In India, millions of them are forced into labour irrespective of their tender age and the time they are supposed to be in schools.iii It is the duty of the state to provide proper care and protection to the children at each stage. According to UNICEF (2002), there are around 100 million street children around the globe.iv In India, the number of street children is more than 11 million.v India has an estimated one million or more street children in each of the following cities: New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai.vi There are major difficulties in trying to count the number of street children and the degree of challenges they experience as these populations are not adequately covered by national census, educational and health datavii. It is more common for street children to be male, and the average age is fourteen.viii Various problems are being faced by street children, including lack of adequate nutrition, homelessness, health problems, deprivation of resources and opportunities and subject to exploitation.