Karnataka High Court Directs State To Appoint Nodal Officer For Coordinating Departmental Action To Aid Child Beggars

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday (January 22) directed the State government to appoint a Nodal officer for coordinating action to be taken by various departments, organization in respect of a report by State Legal Services Authority recommending steps to help child beggars. 

During the hearing the Karnataka State Legal Services Department submitted that it had categorized such children/child begging into six categories including–those involved in group begging; children who are required to work in family business, labour, or construction work; disabled child begging; infants who are carried by mother in begging; mafia forcing children into begging or hawking. 

The KSLSA also informed of the measures that it had recommended to help such children falling in each of the categories–including arranging make shift schools, establishing anganwadis and conducting discreet investigation by Police to track child abuse and trafficking. 

After hearing the matter for some time a division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Poonacha in its order said:

"The panel report submitted by KSLSA also recommends action to be taken in respect of children classified in six categories. The action recommended would the require coordination of different departments.Therefore we direct the State to appoint a nodal officer who will be responsible for coordinating the action of various departments/organizations/municipal corporation. We further direct the State to examine the report submitted by KSLSA as well as recommendations made and submit an action plan including proposed timelines within which action will be taken to ensure that benefits is translated to the children. Let the said report be furnished in six weeks".

The court was hearing a 2020 petition by Letzkit Foundation which sought a direction to the state respondents to ensure that children are not permitted to market items such as toys, earbuds, flowers on the streets of Bengaluru particularly at traffic junctions.

The plea sought a direction to Primary Education department to issue directions to all educational institutions they will not deny admission to such children in the middle of the academic if their parents have to shift their place of work. 

Last year the court had directed the State Government to inform the steps it has taken to recover the outstanding Beggary cess amount, collected by local bodies.

The matter is listed on April 1.

Case Title: LETZKIT FOUNDATION AND State of Karnataka & Others

Case No: WP 10096/2020