HYDERABAD: Street children are largely obscured from official records and hence, left out of many schemes that they are in fact, eligible for. Therefore, on the occasion of World Street Children Day, a Hyderabad-based NGO, in collaboration with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), launched a year-long project on Monday to ensure over 5,000 street children in the city get a legal identity. This will enable the childre, belonging to margenilised communities, to be visible on the government records and avail schemes for which they are eligible.
The project — ‘Making #TheInvisibles Visible through Legal Identity in Hyderabad City’ — is a collective effort of multiple stakeholders such as the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, District Child Protection Unit, Department of Women and Child Welfare, Child Welfare Committees, State Juvenile Police Unit and other civil society organisations. The project is supported by Verizon India, an Information Technology driven Global Capability Centre (GCC).
Chairperson, Telangana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, J Srinivasa Rao, virtually launched the collaborative project.Speaking on the occasion, he said, “I appreciate Save the Children for taking up such initiative to work on the issues of children living in street situations. I call for a detailed discussion on chalking out a plan of working together to promote and protect the rights of children in street situations. Giving an identity to them is an important beginning.”