JJB launches pilot project for street kids upliftment

In a bid to prevent drug addiction and delinquency among street children, a three-member committee set up by Juvenile Justice Board has launched a pilot project to educate scrap dealers not to employ children below the age of 18 years.
   
"There have been instances where children have been pushed into crime by vested interests. Some scrap dealers provide shelter to them and then push them in drug addiction. That later leads to crime by children. They need to be told that it is illegal to employ children," says Sanjay Gupta, convener, Bal Adhikar Abhiyan NGO and a member of the committee.
   
Under this drive, areas where instances of child delinquency are high have been identified in south-east and north-east Delhi. There will be monthly orientation programmes for child employers in the police stations in these areas. Later, the project will be expanded in all the areas in Delhi.
   
"This is a sensitisation drive where we will educate people employing children. If they do not follow it, than action will be taken against the guilty," says Bharti Sharma, convener of the committee.
   
The three-member committee was constituted by Juvenile Justice Board principal magistrate Anuradha Shukla Bhardwaj last year and also includes advocate Anant Kumar Asthana.
   
Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the most unsafe metro in the country, topping the list in the number of crimes as well as in atrocities on women and children, according to 2009 report prepared by National Crime Records Bureau.
   
The national capital reported an average of 16 cases per one lakh population against children compared to the national average of 2 cases per one lakh population.

Children are the future of our country, save them before they lost into dark world of crime.