In 1994, UNICEF estimated that there were between 1 lakh to 1.25 lakh children living and working on the streets of Mumbai. To activists working with children, this seemed like a conservative estimate. Street children -- beggars, flower sellers, rag-pickers, lost runaways -- were a common sight and the 1988 movie 'Salaam Bombay' had brought the vulnerability of their lives into the limelight.
Nearly two decades later, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and non-profit forum Action Aid India conducted a formal census of street children in Mumbai. Their report, released in December, threw up a surprising figure: the number of street children in Mumbai has fallen to approximately 37,059, of whom 905 can be found on trains and railway platforms.
The majority of these children -- 65 per cent -- live on the streets with their families in temporary structures, while the proportion of runaway children or homeless minors in search of jobs is smaller.
For a bustling metropolis with a large population of migrants and homeless people, these figures seem uncharacteristically low. Why has the number of street children in Mumbai reduced so dramatically?
It's a sign of the effectiveness of non-profit organisations and shelter homes, some activists say. They explain that there's greater co-ordination between NGOs and the authorities on reuniting children with their families.
“The number of runaway children has reduced quite significantly in the past ten years or so, because NGOs and the government are now more conscious of them and are reaching out to them,” said Father Placid Fonseca, the assistant director of Sneha Sadan, one of Mumbai’s oldest shelter homes for children. It was founded in 1962.
In addition, police patrols have become tighter and any homeless children they find are sent to the government-run children’s home in Dongri, said Father Jesu Robinson, assistant director of the Don Bosco shelter for boys. "Then, they begin searching for the child’s family,” he said
Many NGOs have also begun to conduct home searches to reunite runaway children with their families -- something that was not common six or seven years ago. “Today, NGOs are networking better with each other, and with support from the police, carry out better home searches,” said Robinson.
Fonseca of Snehasadan believes that Childline -- the nationwide helpline service for children in distress launched in 1996 -- also played a significant role in helping the rescue of vulnerable street children.
However, other activists believe that the drop reflects socio-political factors at play in Mumbai.
“After the 26/11 terror attacks [on CST railway station and other targets], Mumbai’s entire security apparatus and police surveillance began to have a great impact on the homeless," said Vijay Raghavan, professor and chairperson at TISS’s Centre for Criminology and Justice, which had partnered with Action Aid India to conduct the street children census. "People found wandering on the streets were being pushed out of the city.”
He said that there has been a rise in the numbers of street children in areas on Mumbai's peripheries such as Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli and Navi Mumbai. These are also the areas where new commercial activity is booming -- particularly in construction -- and informal labour needs are increasing.
“Mumbai’s growth is now mainly in the outskirts, so if we have to get a full picture of the number of street children, we need to include these parts of Greater Mumbai,” said Alex George of Action Aid India.
Ultimately, the problem of street children is a problem of migration, said Zarine Gupta, the director of the Salaam Balak Trust, which was set up after the film 'Salaam Bombay', and the convener of the Co-ordination Committee for Vulnerable Children. “Street children will never disappear until our villages have enough to sustain their families.”
Nearly two decades later, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and non-profit forum Action Aid India conducted a formal census of street children in Mumbai. Their report, released in December, threw up a surprising figure: the number of street children in Mumbai has fallen to approximately 37,059, of whom 905 can be found on trains and railway platforms.
The majority of these children -- 65 per cent -- live on the streets with their families in temporary structures, while the proportion of runaway children or homeless minors in search of jobs is smaller.
For a bustling metropolis with a large population of migrants and homeless people, these figures seem uncharacteristically low. Why has the number of street children in Mumbai reduced so dramatically?
It's a sign of the effectiveness of non-profit organisations and shelter homes, some activists say. They explain that there's greater co-ordination between NGOs and the authorities on reuniting children with their families.
“The number of runaway children has reduced quite significantly in the past ten years or so, because NGOs and the government are now more conscious of them and are reaching out to them,” said Father Placid Fonseca, the assistant director of Sneha Sadan, one of Mumbai’s oldest shelter homes for children. It was founded in 1962.
In addition, police patrols have become tighter and any homeless children they find are sent to the government-run children’s home in Dongri, said Father Jesu Robinson, assistant director of the Don Bosco shelter for boys. "Then, they begin searching for the child’s family,” he said
Many NGOs have also begun to conduct home searches to reunite runaway children with their families -- something that was not common six or seven years ago. “Today, NGOs are networking better with each other, and with support from the police, carry out better home searches,” said Robinson.
Fonseca of Snehasadan believes that Childline -- the nationwide helpline service for children in distress launched in 1996 -- also played a significant role in helping the rescue of vulnerable street children.
However, other activists believe that the drop reflects socio-political factors at play in Mumbai.
“After the 26/11 terror attacks [on CST railway station and other targets], Mumbai’s entire security apparatus and police surveillance began to have a great impact on the homeless," said Vijay Raghavan, professor and chairperson at TISS’s Centre for Criminology and Justice, which had partnered with Action Aid India to conduct the street children census. "People found wandering on the streets were being pushed out of the city.”
He said that there has been a rise in the numbers of street children in areas on Mumbai's peripheries such as Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli and Navi Mumbai. These are also the areas where new commercial activity is booming -- particularly in construction -- and informal labour needs are increasing.
“Mumbai’s growth is now mainly in the outskirts, so if we have to get a full picture of the number of street children, we need to include these parts of Greater Mumbai,” said Alex George of Action Aid India.
Ultimately, the problem of street children is a problem of migration, said Zarine Gupta, the director of the Salaam Balak Trust, which was set up after the film 'Salaam Bombay', and the convener of the Co-ordination Committee for Vulnerable Children. “Street children will never disappear until our villages have enough to sustain their families.”
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