HYDERABAD: In its bid to curb begging in the city, the Department of Women Development and Child Welfare and Hyderabad police rescued 83 children from begging.
According to E Akkeshwar Rao, District Welfare Officer (DWO) of Hyderabad, since the start of the pandemic there was an increase in children being forced into or turning to beg. In their continued attempt to curb the problem, the two departments conducted a 10-day drive to rescue children from begging.
On Wednesday, around 83 children who were rescued earlier were sent back to their native villages along with their parents."To eliminate the possibility of human trafficking, we have also conducted DNA tests on the children and after finding the matches, we have returned the children to their parents. We have also held counselling sessions for their benefits." As per estimates, there are around 30,000 beggars in Hyderabad. However, this number could have risen dramatically during the pandemic.