DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

A total of 21 child beggars have been rescued from Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts, Punjab Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister Baljit Kaur said on Sunday.

She said the state government is carrying out a vigorous campaign to make Punjab free from begging.

The district child protection teams of the department conducted special raids at the bus stands, railway stations, and other locations in Ludhiana, rescuing 18 children, while three more children were rescued from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, she added.

Kaur said all rescued children have been presented before the child welfare committees and are currently kept safely in children's homes, according to a statement.

If investigations reveal that any person forced these children into begging, strict legal action will be taken against them, she said.

The minister further said that if there is any suspicion regarding the identity of the child's parents, the child welfare committees may also initiate DNA testing on the orders of the deputy commissioner to ascertain the true parentage of the children.

She emphasised that the primary objective of the state government is to ensure a safe and secure future for every child, adding that continuous raids are being conducted at various locations by district teams under the Jeevanjyot-2 project. No cases of child begging have been reported from districts other than Ludhiana and SBS Nagar, the statement said.

She said in order to completely root out the serious issue of child begging from Punjab, the social security department's district welfare teams will continue such raids and checks regularly across all districts, ensuring that no child is ever forced into begging.

Kaur appealed to the public to not give alms to any child beggar and urged if any child is seen begging anywhere, people should immediately report the case by calling child helpline 1098.

A few days ago, the government issued directions to all deputy commissioners in the state to conduct DNA tests of children found begging along with adults on the streets to find out their relationship and check child begging. The move was aimed to check child trafficking and their exploitation for begging on the streets.

(editor@dailyworld.in)