Children constitute 14 per cent of the total beggars in the country, according to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This accounts for a whopping 61,311 children across the country. A total of 4,13,670 people are currently involved in begging in the country.
While the ministry's data is based on the 2011 census, there have been news and NGO reports that estimate that close to 3 lakh children may be begging on India's streets. The government says that it does not have data on the number after 2011.
The data was revealed by A Narayanaswamy, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in the parliament, while answering a question by Nationalist Congress Party MP Vandana Chavan. A majority of these children, according to the government, are from Uttar Pradesh — 14,599. It is followed by Rajasthan with 8,976 and Bihar with 4,485 child beggars. UP also accounts for a total of 65,835 beggars across the country.
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The minister said that in most states and union territories, begging has been criminalised by law. "Most of the states/UTs have adopted The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959, which criminalises the act of begging. The High Court of Delhi had struck down various sections of the Act as extended to Delhi, which criminalise begging or treating begging as an offence, stating them as unconstitutional," he said.
