The situation in Delhi
Street children by definition are children who live on the streets without any adult care or supervision, because they do not have a home. They have only intermittent contact with parents or family (usually mother or sisters). They live most of the time with other street children in the city streets, or are on the move.
Slum children live in parts of districts of a city marked by poverty and inferior living conditions. Children here live without a sense of security and stability, in homes that are mostly on illegal lands. There are also Orphans/ abandoned children due to death or disappearance of parents and abandonment or desertion. Many children invariably suffer various forms of abuse, namely physical, sexual and emotional.
The degree of the abuse, when in the child’s life it occurred and its duration have varying levels of impact on the child. It can range from limited to intentional injury to a long term physical and/or psychological damage that could impair the development potential of a child.
SITUATION IN INDIA AND DELHI
A. India:
India is 3.16 million sq. kms. in area (1/3rd the size of the USA or 9 times the size of Germany or 13 times that of UK). Its population is about 1.111 billion (220 million households) or about 18% of that of the world (more than the total population of USA, UK, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Russia put together). It has 28 states and 7 Union Territories and 16 constitutionally accepted languages. Constitutionally it is called the “Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic”. The Constitution of India upholds justice, liberty, equality and fraternity to all its citizens with freedom to practice and propagate the religion of their choice. Delhi as its capital has an important role to play not only in India but also in the world.
However, there is a great need for the socio economic and political empowerment of the poor and powerless population of India. No less than 77% of India’s population lives with or less than Rs 37.00 (less than US$ 1.00) per day. The following table gives a further breakdown on the purchasing power per person per day:
Population Purchasing power per person per day
22%… Rs 11.60
19%… Rs 15.00
36% Rs 20.00
19% Rs 37.00
4% Rs 93.0
(According to National Commission for Enterprises in Unorganized Sector – NCEUS – 2007)
B. Delhi
From the point of view of a tourist Delhi is a historic city founded in the 11th century AD. It is full of monuments, parks, shopping complexes, etc. But the soul of Delhi lives in its slums, unauthorized colonies and villages.
In area Delhi is spread out on 1.483 square kilometer area, with 9 districts which has 7 Lok Sabha seats.
The population of Delhi is over 18 million.
- 50% (9.00 million) live in 921 authorized colonies
- 40% (7.2 million) live in 1609 unauthorized colonies
- 10% (1.8 million) live in 214 designated villages
- 18% (3.24 million) are children below the age of 14 years, among whom no less than 0.5 million children below the age of 12 years are officially declared as “street children”
- Inspite of the fact that Delhi, which is a large city and the political capital of India, 75.3% of the economy of the Delhi region depends on agriculture and 24.70% depend on 126,000 industrial units (with 1.13 million workers) and services
- The population of the Delhi region is made up of migrants by and large with no less than 50,000 migrating into Delhi every month. It is estimated that over the last 15 years no less than 1.50 million households (or a population of 5.55 million) have migrated from Bihar alone. The reasons for their migration are:
- Unemployment
- Landlessness
- Perpetual floods (whence small and marginal farmers have migrated as they have either lost their lands or their lands are under water for a major part of the year- from the districts of West Champaran, East Champaran, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Samastipur, Siwan, Chapra, Bhagalpur, etc.)
- Because of the drought prone areas (districts of Sasaram, Rohtas, Bhahbua, etc.)
Themocracy