Expressing concern over the rising number of child beggars in the city, the Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra Government to rescue them and provide facilities for their accommodation and education.
A bench of Justices V M Kanade and Reveti Mohite-Dere also asked the state government to find out the number of such children begging on the city streets and how many of them are orphans and whether others have parents or guardians.
In this regard, the court asked the state to refer to a census of child beggars conducted in 2013 by Asha Mukundan, a professor of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and various other NGOs.
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The HC observations came while hearing a public interest litigation, which said there was an urgent need for the state to address this problem.
The government must find out how many children have taken to begging either forcibly or voluntarily, the petition said.
The PIL said it is the duty of the state to ensure that they are not asked to beg under any circumstances.
"The government has a responsibility to take care of destitute children, who either do not have parents or are forced by their elders to take to begging to earn a living," said the PIL.
Hearing on the petition has been adjourned for six weeks.
