AI Generated Summary
- The department is now seeking law enforcement support to track, arrest, and prosecute those responsible for orchestrating the exploitation—an operation that, they admit, is as much about crime control as it is about child protection.
- What began as a routine enforcement of the Punjab Prevention of Beggary Act, 1971, has uncovered a disturbing reality—an organised network exploiting children for begging across the state.
- In September last year, the Punjab Government’s Department of Social Security, Women and Child Development launched a state-wide drive to identify and rescue child beggars.
What began as a routine enforcement of the Punjab Prevention of Beggary Act, 1971, has uncovered a disturbing reality—an organised network exploiting children for begging across the state.
In September last year, the Punjab Government’s Department of Social Security, Women and Child Development launched a state-wide drive to identify and rescue child beggars. The operation exposed harrowing cases: 15 children were found with deliberate injuries or amputations, allegedly inflicted by trafficking gangs to make them more “effective” beggars.
Over the course of that initial campaign, 368 children were rescued. While 300 were successfully reunited with families or legal guardians and most enrolled in schools, the progress proved fragile. Within weeks, at least 50 of those children were spotted back on the streets, begging and living in unsafe conditions—clear evidence, officials say, of continuing exploitation by child traffickers.
This setback prompted the launch of Jeevanjyot 2.0, a more aggressive and structured rescue mission. The second phase, rolled out last month, places special emphasis on verifying the identity of guardians through DNA testing to curb trafficking and reclaim children from criminal control.
“We realised that rescue alone was not enough,” said Shena Aggarwal, Director of the Department of Social Security. “This time, we are combining intensive rescue operations with social investigation reports, inter-state coordination to locate biological families, and DNA verification in suspicious guardianship cases.”
The results have been swift: 245 children have been rescued in just one month. Eighteen have been reunited with their families, while 127 are currently in state-run or NGO-operated childcare institutions. DNA tests are underway in 13 cases where claimed guardianship raised red flags.
Officials say that if no legal guardian can be identified, the children will become wards of the state and, under Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) guidelines, be placed for adoption.
While the rescue and rehabilitation efforts are ongoing, authorities acknowledge that dismantling the criminal infrastructure behind the begging rackets is the next crucial step. “We are working to ensure these children are safe now,” an official said. “But the bigger fight—to bring the perpetrators to justice—will require coordinated action with the police.”
The department is now seeking law enforcement support to track, arrest, and prosecute those responsible for orchestrating the exploitation—an operation that, they admit, is as much about crime control as it is about child protection.
