I. Street Children: Some children of poor families come to towns and cities in search of work.They do some small work like polish, as helpers, garages, newspaper hawkers, etc. They also find such work where there is no need of any capital, for example rag picking and begging. These children have to face the problem of accommodation. They cannot rent houses or rooms in big cities due to high rent. As a result, these children have to spend day and night in the street. So, they are known as street children or rag-pickers. Especially during the night, they use public places like railway station, bus stand, garden and park etc. for their stay. According to an estimate, five lakh children live on the street in the cities of Bangalore, Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Madras.
These street children do not have any guardian to guide or control them. They are free to do anything. As a result, they fail victims of intoxicants like Biri, Cigarettes, tobacco, Ganja, Bhang, liquor etc. Intoxicants spoil their health and life. These children also fall victim to sexual exploitation. The street children come in contact with the criminals . They are trained in picking pockets and stealing goods from the public and crowded places. The street children, when caught in connection with crime, are sent to jail. In jail, they come in contact with veteran criminals. In this way, they also become criminals in late life.
II. Problems of Street Children: From the above account, we come to understand about the following points related to the street children:
(a) These children are run away or trapped children.
(b) They are orphans or separated from their families.
(c) These are victims of poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition.
(d) These children are also victims of physical and sexual oppressions.
(e) Their work is disorganized and episodic.
(f) They generally perform unskilled labour.
(g) These children encroach on government land and are uprooted from time to time.
(h) In bad company, these children start taking liquor and drugs which spoil their health and life.
(i) They are also involved in crimes and are sent to jail.
