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Lake City home to 74 street children: Study
POKHARA, JUL 17 -
Pokhara is home to 74 street children, a report prepared by local Muskan Club after a six-month study reveals.
“The children fall in the 10-18 year age group, 37 of whom from marginalised communities,” said Phatuma Khatun, Vice Chairperson of the Club. Forty-four children were found to be staying at Prithvi Chowk, 24 at Mahendra Pul and Chiplegaun while six spend nights on the streets of Amar Singh Chowk.
The children are addicted to Dendrite (an adhesive), pick rags, consume chucked food and beg in marketplaces. Club Secretary Narayan Poudel said some of the children were forced to live on the street due to poverty, while others were orphans or had step-parents, with some choosing the life out of peer influence.
Om Raj Poudel, Programme Officer at Pokhara Sub-metropolitan City, said the government, with the help of NGOs, needs to urgently rehabilitate the children.
“If each of the 55 children’s homes currently in operation in Kaski district rehabilitates one or two of them, the problem can be solved immediately,” said Poudel. “Establishment of a juvenile reform centre can solve the problem too,” he added.
Posted on: 2010-07-18 08:37
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