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		<title>Ajay Kumar: Created a new article</title>
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		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Created a new article&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;New page&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;{{lead too short|date=June 2012}}&lt;br /&gt;
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2013}}&lt;br /&gt;
[[File:Boy in New Delhi - Kristian Bertel.jpg|thumb|A street child in [[New Delhi]].]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A [[street child]] is a child &amp;quot;for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood; and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible adults&amp;quot;.&amp;lt;ref name=Benitez&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 |last        = Thomas de Benítez&lt;br /&gt;
 |first       = Sarah&lt;br /&gt;
 |title       = State of the world&amp;#039;s street children&lt;br /&gt;
 |journal     = Consortium for Street Children&lt;br /&gt;
 |year        = 2007&lt;br /&gt;
 |url         = http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/content.asp?pageID=88&lt;br /&gt;
 |access-date  = February 20, 2012&lt;br /&gt;
 |url-status     = dead&lt;br /&gt;
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120222170433/http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/content.asp?pageID=88&lt;br /&gt;
 |archive-date = February 22, 2012&lt;br /&gt;
}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[India]] has an estimated one hundred thousand or more street children in each of the following cities: [[New Delhi]], [[Kolkata]], and [[Mumbai]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{cite journal |author=Poonam R. Naik, Seema S. Bansode, Ratnenedra R. Shinde &amp;amp; Abhay S. Nirgude |year=2011 |title=Street children of Mumbai: demographic profile and substance abuse |journal=[[Biomedical Research]] |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=495–498}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Mainly because of family conflict, they come to live on the streets and take on the full responsibilities of caring for themselves, including working to provide for and protecting themselves. Though street children do sometimes band together for greater security, they are often exploited by employers and the police.&amp;lt;ref name= Chatterjee&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 | last = Chatterjee&lt;br /&gt;
 | first = A. &lt;br /&gt;
 | title = India: The forgotten children of the cities&lt;br /&gt;
 | journal = Papers &lt;br /&gt;
 | publisher = Unicef&lt;br /&gt;
 | location = Florence, Italy&lt;br /&gt;
 | year = 1992&lt;br /&gt;
 | url = http://ideas.repec.org/p/ucf/innstu/innstu92-7.html&lt;br /&gt;
 | access-date = February 20, 2012}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name= Bose&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 | last = Bose&lt;br /&gt;
 | first = A.B.&lt;br /&gt;
 | title = The Disadvantaged Urban Child in India&lt;br /&gt;
 | journal = Innocenti Occasional Papers, Urban Child Series&lt;br /&gt;
 | year = 1992&lt;br /&gt;
 | url = http://ideas.repec.org/p/ucf/iopucs/iopucs92-5.html&lt;br /&gt;
 | access-date = February 20, 2012}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Their many vulnerabilities require specific legislation and attention from the government and other organisations to improve their condition.&amp;lt;ref name=Benitez/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Definition clarification==&lt;br /&gt;
[[File:Street children in India.jpg|thumb|250px|Street children at a railway station in [[Medak district]], [[Andhra Pradesh]].]]&lt;br /&gt;
In the early years of research on street children, the term &amp;quot;[[street child]]&amp;quot; included any child that worked on the street. From research, however, different categories of children on the streets have been distinguished, while still recognizing that children&amp;#039;s complex experiences are difficult to define.&amp;lt;ref name=Benitez/&amp;gt; Mark W. Lusk, a prominent researcher of street children, developed four categories of children on the street from his research: children who work on the street but return to their families at night, children who work on the street but whose family ties are dwindling, children who live and work with their families on the street, and children who work and live on their own on the street.&amp;lt;ref name=Aptekar&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 |last       = Aptekar&lt;br /&gt;
 |first      = L.&lt;br /&gt;
 |title      = Street children in the developing world: a review of their condition.&lt;br /&gt;
 |journal    = Cross-Cultural Resources&lt;br /&gt;
 |volume     = 28&lt;br /&gt;
 |issue      = 3&lt;br /&gt;
 |pages      = 195–244&lt;br /&gt;
 |year       = 1994&lt;br /&gt;
 |doi        = 10.1177/106939719402800301&lt;br /&gt;
 |citeseerx      = 10.1.1.534.8945&lt;br /&gt;
 |s2cid = 30868079&lt;br /&gt;
 }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The term &amp;quot;street child&amp;quot; has come to refer only to the last group. [[UNICEF]] defines a street child as, &amp;quot;...any girl or boy&amp;lt;ref name= Bertel&amp;gt;{{cite journal &lt;br /&gt;
 | last = Bertel&lt;br /&gt;
 | first = Kristian&lt;br /&gt;
 | title = Boy begging in New Delhi&lt;br /&gt;
 | journal = Kristian Bertel Photography&lt;br /&gt;
 | year = 2008&lt;br /&gt;
 | url = http://www.kristianbertel.dk/archive/boy-begging-in-new-delhi.html&lt;br /&gt;
 | access-date = December 10, 2016}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
... for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood; and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible adults&amp;quot;.&amp;lt;ref name=Benitez/&amp;gt; It is important to distinguish the group of children that live on their own on the streets because their lives vary greatly from those of children who simply work on the streets; they thus have different needs and require targeted attention.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While 18 million children work on the streets of India,&amp;lt;ref name= Singh&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 | last1 = Singh&lt;br /&gt;
 | first1 = A.&lt;br /&gt;
 | last2 = Puroht&lt;br /&gt;
 | first2 = B.&lt;br /&gt;
 | title = Street Children as a Public Health Fiasco&lt;br /&gt;
 | journal = Peace Review&lt;br /&gt;
 | volume = 23&lt;br /&gt;
 | pages = 102–109&lt;br /&gt;
 | year = 2011&lt;br /&gt;
 | doi = 10.1080/10402659.2011.548270&lt;br /&gt;
 | s2cid = 145593210&lt;br /&gt;
 }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; it is estimated that only 5–20 percent of them are truly [[Homelessness in India|homeless]] and disconnected from their families.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Aptekar/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 | last = Kombarakaran&lt;br /&gt;
 | first = Francis A.&lt;br /&gt;
 | title = Street children of Bombay: their stresses and strategies of coping&lt;br /&gt;
 | journal = Children and Youth Services Review&lt;br /&gt;
 | volume = 26&lt;br /&gt;
 | issue = 9&lt;br /&gt;
 | pages = 853–871&lt;br /&gt;
 | year = 2004&lt;br /&gt;
 | doi =10.1016/j.childyouth.2004.02.025&lt;br /&gt;
 }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Because the street children in India have unique vulnerabilities – the amount of time they spend on the street, their livelihood depending on the street, and their lack of protection and care from adults – they are a subgroup of the Indian population that deserve specific attention in order to ensure that their needs are known.&amp;lt;ref name= Panter-Brick&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 | last = Panter-Brick&lt;br /&gt;
 | first = Catherine&lt;br /&gt;
 | title = Street Children, Human Rights, and Public Health: A Critique and Further Directions&lt;br /&gt;
 | journal = Annual Review of Anthropology&lt;br /&gt;
 | volume = 21&lt;br /&gt;
 | pages = 147–171&lt;br /&gt;
 | year = 2002&lt;br /&gt;
 | jstor = 4132875&lt;br /&gt;
 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.anthro.31.040402.085359}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; As the most vulnerable group of children in India according to UNICEF, they need to be understood as much as possible.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Characteristics==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is difficult to obtain accurate data about them because of their floating character.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; Street children usually have no proof of identification and move often.&amp;lt;ref name= Human&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 | title = Police Abuse and Killings of Street Children in India&lt;br /&gt;
 | journal = Human Rights Watch Project&lt;br /&gt;
 | date = November 1996&lt;br /&gt;
 | url = https://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/India4.htm&lt;br /&gt;
 }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Of the 50,000 people in India that are officially reported as leaving home annually, 45 percent are under 16; this number, though, is likely very low.&amp;lt;ref name=Patel&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 | last = Patel&lt;br /&gt;
 | first = Sheela&lt;br /&gt;
 | title = Street Children, hotel boys and children of pavement dwellers and construction workers in Bombay - how they meet their daily needs&lt;br /&gt;
 | journal = Environment and Urbanization&lt;br /&gt;
 | volume = 2&lt;br /&gt;
 | issue = 2&lt;br /&gt;
 | pages = 9–26&lt;br /&gt;
 | date = October 1990&lt;br /&gt;
 | doi =10.1177/095624789000200203&lt;br /&gt;
 | s2cid = 153522987&lt;br /&gt;
 }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Various studies have formulated estimates of certain cities. In the late 1980s, for instance, it was estimated that there were at least 100,000 street children in both [[Calcutta]] and [[Bombay]].&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; Overall, estimates for the total number of street children in India range from 400,000 to 800,000.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Age===&lt;br /&gt;
Because it is difficult to obtain precise and accurate statistics about street children, information about their ages is approximate. Most of the street children in India are over 6, and the majority is over 8.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; The mean age of street children in a National Institute of Urban Affairs study in 1989 was 13 years.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; Another study in 1989 by UNICEF found that 72 percent of the street children studied were ages 6–12 and 13 percent were under 6 years of age.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Gender===&lt;br /&gt;
The majority of street children in India are boys with little or no education.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Causes==&lt;br /&gt;
The street children in India choose to leave their families and homes for strategic reasons.&amp;lt;ref name=Benitez/&amp;gt; Three hypotheses have been put forth in an attempt to explain their choices: [[urban poverty]], aberrant families, and [[urbanization]].&amp;lt;ref name=Aptekar/&amp;gt; Evidence can to some degree support all three of these hypotheses. In one study of 1,000 street children living in Bombay conducted in 1990, 39.1 percent of street children said they left home because of problems and fights with family, 20.9 percent said they left because of family poverty, and 3.6 percent said that they wanted to see the city.&amp;lt;ref name=Patel/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The street children and children running away from home are connected. A child running away from home ends on the street in most situations. There is lot of data available on why children run away, revealing many reasons for doing so. Some reasons are simple, some complex. Sometimes the reasons are because of the child&amp;#039;s behavior, and other times the parents are the cause. A child not going to school or not doing homework and thus fearing beatings, is a very common cause. A child stealing money or fighting with siblings are reasons too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Most children leave their families to live on the street because of family problems.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Aptekar/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; Family problems include such things as death of a parent, alcoholism of father, strained relationships with stepparents, parent separation, abuse, and family violence.&amp;lt;ref name=Aptekar/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name= Mathur&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 | last1 = Mathur&lt;br /&gt;
 | first1 = Meena&lt;br /&gt;
 | last2 = Prachi&lt;br /&gt;
 | first2 = R.&lt;br /&gt;
 | last3 = Monika&lt;br /&gt;
 | first3 = M.&lt;br /&gt;
 | title = Incidence, type and intensity of abuse in street children in India&lt;br /&gt;
 | journal = Child Abuse &amp;amp; Neglect&lt;br /&gt;
 | volume = 33&lt;br /&gt;
 | issue = 12&lt;br /&gt;
 | pages = 33907–913&lt;br /&gt;
 | year =2009&lt;br /&gt;
 | doi = 10.1016/j.chiabu.2009.01.003&lt;br /&gt;
 | pmid = 19897246&lt;br /&gt;
 }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Additionally, street children usually come from female-headed households.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
	&lt;br /&gt;
Most children who leave home to live on the streets come from slums or low cost housing, both which are areas of high illiteracy, drug use, and unemployment.&amp;lt;ref name=Mathur/&amp;gt; Children usually transfer their lives to the streets through a gradual process; they may at first only stay on the street a night or two. Gradually they will spend more time away from home until they do not return.&amp;lt;ref name=Aptekar/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Once on the streets, children sometimes find that their living conditions and physical and mental health is better than at home; however, this fact speaks to the poor conditions of their homes rather than good conditions in the street. Street conditions are far from child-friendly.&amp;lt;ref name=Aptekar/&amp;gt; Once they leave home, many street children move around often because of the fear that their relatives will find them and force them to return home.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Sadly, many children are kidnapped and treated as slaves by the kidnappers. The kidnappers make them beg for money the whole day on the streets and enjoy themselves with the money they get from the children.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Economic activity==&lt;br /&gt;
===Work===&lt;br /&gt;
[[File:Mumbai-street-kids.jpg|thumb|250px|Street children in [[Mumbai]], India selling snacks and drinks to bus passengers]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As street children must provide for themselves, work is a very important aspect of their lives.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; Unfortunately, working conditions for street children are often very poor because they are confined to working in the [[informal sector]], which is unregulated by the government.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; In Bombay, 50,000 children are illegally employed by 11,750 hotels, restaurants, canteens, tea shops, and eating places.&amp;lt;ref name=Patel/&amp;gt; Because of street children&amp;#039;s lack of protection from a family and the law, employers often exploit them, making them virtual prisoners, sometimes withholding pay, and abusing them.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; Employers that would not mistreat the children often will not hire them because they are seen as too great of a risk.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Because of the low pay from employers, street children in India often choose to be self-employed or work multiple jobs.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; In fact, the majority of them are self-employed.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; One of the most common economic activities done by the children is scavenging for recyclable materials, such as plastic, paper, and metal.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Other jobs include cleaning cars; petty [[Street vendor|vending]], selling small items such as balloons or sweets; selling newspapers or flowers; begging; shining shoes; working in small hotels; working on construction sites; and working in roadside stalls or repair shops.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Singh/&amp;gt; Street children, especially the older children, are also sometimes engaged in activities such as stealing, pick-pocketing, drug-peddling, and prostitution, though this is a small proportion.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Singh/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; Most of the street children work 8–10 hours total each day in their various economic activities.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Spending===&lt;br /&gt;
The earnings of street children fluctuate greatly, but they usually only make enough for subsistence.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; Most street children in India earn between 200 ($4.00) and 830 rupees a month, with older children making more than younger children.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; Self-employed children also typically make more than children who are employed under an employer.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; The largest expense in a street child&amp;#039;s budget is food, which often costs 5–10 rupees a day.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; In order to cut down on food expenses, many children drink tea to dull hunger.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The money street children earn that is not spent on food is usually quickly spent on other things because older children and police frequently steal their money.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; This lack of ability to save causes severe financial insecurity.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; While children occasionally send some of their earnings home to their families, they spend most of their extra money on entertainment.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Many street children spend 300 rupees a month on movies, though older children also use their money to buy cigarettes, chewing tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; Street children often spend very little on clothing because their employers often provide clothes for work or their families occasionally give them clothes if they know where they are living. Also, the boys among them do not mind wandering fully or partially naked in public because it adds to the people&amp;#039;s sympathy for them.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Education==&lt;br /&gt;
The [[Education in India|education]] of street children in India is very poor and often nonexistent.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; A study of street children in Bombay in 1989 found that 54.5 percent had never been enrolled in school and 66 percent of the children were illiterate.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; A 2004 study of street children in Bombay revealed that circumstances were largely the same: 60 percent of the children had never attended school and approximately two-thirds were illiterate.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Thirty percent had been to elementary school, while only 10 percent had been to middle or high school.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; In fact, many children in the 2004 study said that one of the reasons they ran away from home is because they did not want to be forced to work and unable to attend school.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; Obviously, however, the demands of living alone make it very unlikely that they will be able to obtain education through leaving.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Relationships and coping==&lt;br /&gt;
The street children in India are especially vulnerable among low-income children because they do not have the support structures that other children normally have, namely families and the psychological and monetary support they offer.&amp;lt;ref name=Beyond&amp;gt;{{cite journal&lt;br /&gt;
 | title = Beyond Survival: Status of Livelihood Programmes for Street Youth in India&lt;br /&gt;
 | publisher = Railway Children&lt;br /&gt;
 | date = June 2008&lt;br /&gt;
 | url = http://www.railwaychildren.org.uk/wcore/showdoc.asp?id=1069&lt;br /&gt;
 | access-date = February 20, 2012}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Thus, street children adopt strategies to cope with the harsh realities of their lives. For many, these strategies include developing a tough exterior and strong independence to hide their vulnerability.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; They live in survival-mode, constantly having to be aware of their surroundings and fight for their safety.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; These circumstances lead children to engage in behaviors that children in families typically do not, such as creating a new identity, using aggression frequently, and valuing relationships based on what can be gained from them.&amp;lt;ref name=Beyond/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While the majority of street children in India have been found to use positive coping mechanisms to deal with the stress of their lives, some choose maladaptive strategies, such as drinking alcohol, using drugs, and visiting prostitutes.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; When questioned about their substance use, many street children in Bombay reported that the cause was frustration concerning living on the street or conflicts in their family which caused them to leave home.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Fortunately, street children are not entirely on their own. Many form groups with other street children to protect themselves.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; These groups normally have a leader and specific territory; unfortunately, though these groups bring safety to most, younger children are sometimes used by the leader to steal or do other illegal activities.&amp;lt;ref name=Mathur/&amp;gt; Street children in Bombay report relying on their friends for help when they are sick, money when they run out, and information about work when they need a job.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; Street children spend much of their free time with their friends, often going with them to the movies.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Among the most important deprivations faced by street children is the lack of a protective and guiding adult,&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; but some street children manage to find individuals to fulfill this role. Though most live on their own or with friends, some street children form connections with families that live on the streets or in slums and see these families as their substitute families.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; Many of these children find a &amp;quot;mother-figure&amp;quot; that cares for them when they are ill and is interested in their well-being.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Health and nutrition==&lt;br /&gt;
Street children in India face additional vulnerability because of their lack of access to nutritious food, sanitation, and medical care.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Patel/&amp;gt; Street children [[Malnutrition in India|lack access to nutritious food]] because many are dependent on leftovers from small restaurants or hotels, food stalls, or garbage bins.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; In a study of street children in Bombay in 1990, 62.5 percent of the children obtained food from hotels.&amp;lt;ref name=Patel/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the same study of street children in Bombay, 29.6 percent of children reported bathing in the sea and 11.5 percent reported bathing in pipes, wells, or canals. Open air bathing of street children is in fact a very common sight in all parts of India. These children have to put their naked bodies on display for a very long time before, during and after bathing. As a result, they develop hardly any sense of modesty. They as well as the onlookers have a casual approach to this phenomenon. Street children also lack restroom facilities, demonstrated by the fact that 26.4 percent of the children used the roadside or railway line for their toilet. For water, the children reported asking restaurants or hotels for water (69.1 percent) or using pipes and water taps (15.6 percent).&amp;lt;ref name=Patel/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Most of the street children in India also lack access to medical care, which is especially detrimental during times of illness or injury.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; The study of street children in Bombay found that 34.9 percent had an injury and 18.9 percent had a fever in the past three months.&amp;lt;ref name=Patel/&amp;gt; Only about a third of the children received any help with their illness or injury, though some were able to receive help at a government clinic.&amp;lt;ref name=Patel/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Other studies have found that many illnesses are very prevalent among street children. A study conducted in 2002 on the street children in Kolkata found that six in every 554 street children from ages five to fourteen are HIV positive.&amp;lt;ref name=Singh/&amp;gt; In Bangor Basti, 98 percent of children are estimated to have dental caries.&amp;lt;ref name=Singh/&amp;gt; Additionally, most street children do not have winter clothing, leaving them more vulnerable to illness during the winter.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Abuse==&lt;br /&gt;
Street children in India are frequently exposed to abuse and extortion.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; According to [[UNICEF]], violence against children in India includes neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and exploitation. The rate of child abuse increased to nearly 8000 in 2007.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;Human Rights Watch&amp;quot;&amp;gt;{{Cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/07/india-child-sex-abuse-shielded-silence-and-neglect|title=India: Child Sex Abuse Shielded by Silence and Neglect|date=2013-02-07|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en|access-date=2019-10-22}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; An Indian government study in 2007 stated that two out of every three children in India were physically abused and that 50% of the nearly 12,000 studied children testified one or more forms of sexual abuse.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;Child Abuse&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Debbie M. &amp;quot;Sperry DM. Child Abuse and Neglect, Social Support, and Psychopathology in Adulthood: A Prospective Investigation. Child Abuse Negl : (2013) | Pubget.&amp;quot; Sperry DM. Child Abuse and Neglect, Social Support, and Psychopathology in Adulthood: A Prospective Investigation. Child Abuse Negl : (2013) | Pubget. Pubget, 6 Feb. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. &amp;lt;http://pubget.com/paper/23562083/Child_abuse_and_neglect__social_support__and_psychopathology_in_adulthood__A_prospective_investigation&amp;gt;.t&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; This increase is probably due to increased awareness and reporting of abuse. Other studies include that 7,200 children, including infants, are raped every year in India, and the government refuses to comment on these serial child abuses that continue. Many child activists believe that cases go unreported.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;Children in India&amp;quot;&amp;gt;{{Cite web|url=https://www.friendsofsbt.org/statistics|title=statistics|website=Friends of Salaam Baalak Trust|access-date=2019-10-22}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Because they have no social status and no adults to protect them, street children identify being physically threatened and intimidated by adults as the one factor that contributes most to the misery of living on the streets.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;Chatterjee&amp;quot; /&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;Bose&amp;quot; /&amp;gt; The primary cause for this treatment is the views that the police and general public hold toward them: most scorn them and react to them with hostility.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;Aptekar&amp;quot; /&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Abuse by the [[Police in India|Indian police]] is often reported by street children.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Human/&amp;gt; Many street children have reported that police will beat them in order to coerce them into giving them a &amp;quot;cut&amp;quot; for working in certain areas.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Human/&amp;gt; Police often arrest street children under the Vagrancy Act, and, having no formal way to appeal their arrest, the children must bribe or work at the police station until their &amp;quot;debt&amp;quot; has been paid.&amp;lt;ref name=Kombarakaran/&amp;gt; Under a government-sponsored programme called &amp;quot;Operation Beggar,&amp;quot; street children in Bombay were rounded up and given into what was essentially indebted servitude.&amp;lt;ref name=Aptekar/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Many factors contribute to the police abuse of street children, including the police perceptions of the children, widespread corruption, a culture of police violence, the inadequacy and non-implementation of legal safeguards, and the level of impunity that the police enjoy.&amp;lt;ref name=Human/&amp;gt; Though the [[Juvenile Justice Act]], which applies to all the states and Union Territories in India except [[Jammu]] and [[Kashmir]], prohibits detaining neglected or delinquent juveniles in police lock-ups or jails, it is rarely enforced.&amp;lt;ref name=Human/&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
	&lt;br /&gt;
One study that looked at the abuse of street children in [[Jaipur]] City, India in 2009 provided new insight into the abuse that street children in India suffer by studying the types and prevalence of abuse and how these things were related to other factors.&amp;lt;ref name=Mathur/&amp;gt; The street children in the study reported all five types of abuse: general abuse and neglect, health abuse, verbal abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, and sexual abuse. Verbal and psychological abuse were reported the most. Older children and children with higher incomes were abused more than younger children and children with lower incomes, respectively.&amp;lt;ref name=Mathur/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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==Government involvement==&lt;br /&gt;
Street children in India are &amp;quot;a manifestation of societal malfunctioning and an economic and social order that does not take timely preventative action&amp;quot;.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; Thus, many scholars believe that fixing the problems of street children depend on addressing the causal factors of their situations.&amp;lt;ref name=Benitez/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; Additionally, as these causal factors are addressed, help for the immediate situation of street children must also be given.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
India has set in place various forms of public policy concerning street children over the past two decades, but they have largely been ineffective because they are uninformed by sociological, anthropological, and geographical research on street children, meaning they do not always correctly assess and address needs.&amp;lt;ref name=Benitez/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Prior to 1997, the &amp;quot;Official Vocabulary&amp;quot; of post-independence India did not contain the term &amp;quot;street child&amp;quot;, and street children were only helped because they were grouped with other children that worked on the streets.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; For instance, the Coordination Committee for Vulnerable Children worked to give identity cards to children working on the streets in order to help protect them from police violence.&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; In the early 1990s, facing pressure from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Indian government created the &amp;quot;Scheme for Assistance to Street Children,&amp;quot; which launched in February 1993.&amp;lt;ref name=Singh/&amp;gt; Though many NGOs had meetings with the government to give feedback about the scheme and suggestions to improve it, none of these recommendations were included in the final draft, making it very difficult for NGOs to participate in it.&amp;lt;ref name=Singh/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Since their entrance into the policy arena and the Scheme was set in place, street children have been included in some other policies and programmes as well. The Indian Council of Child Welfare has included street children in their programmes, and in the 8th Five Year Plan a scheme for children in 6 metropolitan cities was set in place.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt; The [[Ministry of Labour and Employment (India)|Ministry of Labour]] has also included street children in their livelihood training programmes, though this has been met with minimal success because many street children do not have the education necessary to participate in the programmes.&amp;lt;ref name=Beyond/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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==Recommendations==&lt;br /&gt;
Scholars and agencies have suggested various strategies to help street children, many of which focus on the use of NGOs. A.B. Bose of UNICEF and Sarah Thomas de Benitez of the Consortium for Street Children suggest that the main responsibility of assistance should be given to NGOs, which should be backed financially by the government.&amp;lt;ref name=Benitez/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref name=Bose/&amp;gt; Because NGOs have the ability to be more flexible than the government, they are better able to meet the needs of street children in varied circumstances.&amp;lt;ref name=Chatterjee/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The [[Human Rights Watch]] suggests that censuses of street children should be taken in various cities in order to help NGOs have accurate data about the street children population and plan programmes accordingly.&amp;lt;ref name=Human/&amp;gt; The Human Rights Watch also makes various legal suggestions for the protection of street children in their study of police abuse and killings of street children. These suggestions include the amendment of Sections 53 and 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedures to make a medical examination necessary when a street child is detained, ratifying the [[United Nations Convention Against Torture|United Nations 1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment]], and to amend the [[Juvenile Justice Act]] in order to create a mechanism for complaints and prosecutions for abuse.&amp;lt;ref name=Human/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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==In popular culture==&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Mira Nair]]&amp;#039;s Academy Award-nominated film, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Salaam Bombay!]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; (1988), film about Mumbai&amp;#039;s underbelly, prostitution and street children. It also used street children as actors.&amp;lt;ref name=telegraph&amp;gt;{{cite news | title = Salaam Bombay tea boy to TV help | url = http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120501/jsp/frontpage/story_15439629.jsp#.U52mx5SSyAo | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120503160417/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120501/jsp/frontpage/story_15439629.jsp#.U52mx5SSyAo | url-status = dead | archive-date = May 3, 2012 |author=K.M. Rakesh|date=May 1, 2012|newspaper=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)]]| access-date = 2014-06-15 }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
* A 2016 film called, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Lion (2016 film)|Lion]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, is based on the life of [[Saroo Brierley]]. It shows his experiences as a street child in Kolkata, India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==See also==&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Child trafficking in India]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Child labour in India]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Youth in India]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Bachpan Bachao Andolan]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Odisha State Child Protection Society]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Poverty in India]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Street children in the Philippines]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Street children in Bangladesh]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
{{Reflist}}&lt;br /&gt;
{{Commons category|Street children in India}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{Homelessness|state=expanded}}&lt;br /&gt;
{{Social issues in India}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Homelessness by country|India]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Street children]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Children&amp;#039;s rights in India| ]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Poverty in India]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Indian children]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Childhood in India]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Ajay Kumar</name></author>
	</entry>
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