By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Street children roaming about Police Bazar is a sight not new to any. There are handfuls, ignorant of life’s issues and at the same time being in a great risk owing to their indulgence in activities that can only earn them the label of Dons in an area.
The number of street children in Shillong is on the rise despite various initiatives and programmers and this is a sure indication of a rather dangerous trend.
Speaking to The Shillong Times about the activities of the street children, one of the officials from the Reach Ministries, an NGO working for the welfare of the street children said, “The situation is alarming as there is a sharp increase in the number of street children.”
“During sessions involving discussions, most of the street children tell us that they want to be the Don of Police Bazar and the word Don for them means terrorizing,” the official said.
The NGO has taken strong cognizance of the street children who may turn into anti social elements in the future and therefore they are working closely with the State police to bring them into the right direction.
Different locations of the city including Police Bazar, Polo and Motphran are flooded with street children. While many of them try to earn a decent living by taking up small business ventures involving selling of betel nuts and other things, there exists a group of children who most of the times are shaping a shaky future for themselves as they indulge in sniffing dendrite and other intoxicants.
The official stated that the there are two categories of street children in Shillong city, the Khasi and Non Khasi, adding that the number of Non Khasi street children in the city ranges from 60-70 while the number of Khasi street children are in figures between 20-30.
“Most of the non Khasi children spend 24 hours on the street and they engage in rag picking,” the official added.
It is also evident that some of the street children indulge in begging and later spend it on sniffing dendrites and other intoxicants.
The Reach Ministry has also initiated substance abuse awareness programmes for many of the street children, keeping in mind the fact that the level of using substance in them is very high.
“Most of them want to quit but their level is high and they need to be subjected to detoxication,” he said on request of anonymity.
The State Government is also providing a helping hand to the welfare of the street children through its Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).
The NGO is also opening up a 24 x 7 shelter house for the street children in Keating road shortly for the welfare of the street children.
“We are doing the formalities and the paper works related to the matter, after which we expect to open the shelter by First week of September,” the official added.