To reiterate its commitment to the welfare of the children and to make a decisive effort to curb the menace of child begging, the Punjab Government, under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has made a momentous start in this direction. To implement the vision of the government, which is ‘People-Centric,’ the Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister of the State of Punjab, Dr. Baljit Kaur, has rescued 704 children through the State's flagship schemes ‘Project JIWANJYOT and ‘Project JIWANJYOT 2.0.
Project JIWANJYOT, which came into effect from July 2024, aims to achieve its objectives of rescuing and rehabilitating child beggars through monthly rescue missions. These activities are carried out by district administrations in the second week of each month to rescue children involved in begging. After being rescued, these children are rehabilitated according to their age, eligibility criteria, and availability of relevant documentation to provide them with a necessary and required response to their circumstances.
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For effectively tackling organized begging gangs as well as cases of human trafficking, the Punjab Government launched Project JIWANJYOT 2.0. This time, the project uses an intensive legal process. Under the improved scheme, DNA profilinig is done to check the credentials of the relation between children who have been rescued from these gangs or trafficking cases, and the adults with them. If their DNA does not match, an FIR is registered, and tough legal proceedings follow.
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Giving a status report on the effect, Punjab Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister Dr Baljit Kaur was quoted as saying, “Of the 704 children rescued till date, 269 children have been admitted to schools, 15 to Anganwadi facilities, 43 to the Sponsorship Scheme, and 15 to various health-related welfare schemes.”
Highlighting the larger vision associated with this initiative, she had also mentioned that every child deserves a safe, decent, and child-friendly childhood. In Project JIWANJYOT, along with taking these children out of exploitative situations, the state will also provide them with education, health care, and rehabilitation services. In an interaction people last month, she had asked them to come forward and report any incidence of child begging, while reaffirming the state’s commitment to make Punjab child-begging-free.