City-based techies will launch an anti-child begging campaign
News — By The Desk on November 12, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Mid-day.com: What do you do when you see a child begging on the road or near a traffic signal? Many of us would take pity on them and give them money thinking that we are indulging in a good deed. However, city-based NGOs, Dream India and Samidha beg to differ.
Volunteers from these NGOs, all belonging to the IT sector, feel that this only reinforces the tendency of begging among them and their parents and family members encourage them to become beggars as it becomes their main source of revenue.
Techies from the city will launch an Anti-child begging campaign on 14 November to curb this practice and drive these children to schools, where they should actually belong.
Software professionals Ashish Bhuta, Megha Malviya and Amit Gawande all working with Persistent, narrated the concept of the Campaign. These committed individuals are setting a good example before the society, as they are funding this thriving activity from their own pockets.
They argue that people should stop giving alms to child beggars, as this is not a permanent solution to the problem of poverty in the country. So, our noble intentions actually force these children to continue begging, as their family members start regarding these children as earning hands.
Dream India and Samidha will be holding a two-day drive with an array of events like presentations, discussions, and street plays on November 14 and 15.
The presentations will be arranged at the corporate level in Persistent, Tech Mahindra, and KPIT to mark Children’s Day.
Megha Malviya, software professional and volunteer of NGO Samidha said, “We are putting up stalls at Sarasbag, Inox, Esquare, Sambhaji Park, and M G Road to make our campaign a success.”
