Member of parliament (MP) Kirron Kher has asked deputy commissioner (DC) Ajit Balaji Joshi to look into the ‘growing problem of child begging in the city and send these children to school’.
She said she was alarmed at the situation and it needed to be be dealt with on priority. “Lots of suggestions were made, and it is also to look into if any of these children are among the many missing kids in India,” she told HT adding that she had asked the DC to even get the DNA test done of these children and ensure they are sent to schools.
She touched upon the issue at the second District-Level Monitoring Committee meeting held on Monday morning.
Menace should have vanished last year
The administration had pledged to make Chandigarh free of child beggars by October 2, 2015, and even punish parents whose kids were found begging. However, child begging continues unabated.
DC Ajit Balaji Joshi said, “We started work on making the city free of the menace four months ago. The administrator launched certain Standard Operating Procedures in this regard in May.”
{{/usCountry}}DC Ajit Balaji Joshi said, “We started work on making the city free of the menace four months ago. The administrator launched certain Standard Operating Procedures in this regard in May.”
{{/usCountry}}Kirron also reviewed the status of attendance of teachers and students, especially in periphery schools. She also said that the department must check the mushrooming of unrecognised institutes and transfer some students to government schools, if it was warranted. The issue of transfer of primary schools from the MC to the UT education department was taken up. Officers said there had been no proposal from the MC. Kher asked the DC to check with the MC.