Keralite's plea to aid Mumbai street kids

MALAPPURAM: An intervention by Malappuram municipal chairman K P Musthafa, through a public interest litigation (PIL), has resulted in a Bombay high court order asking the Maharashtra government to take immediate steps to rehabilitate street children in Mumbai.
The PIL sought court intervention to rehabilitate street children. The Maharashtra government has also been asked to submit a report on this by September 30.
The PIL was filed a year ago, after Musthafa noticed the poor living conditions of street children on the premises of the secretariat in southern Mumbai during a visit. In the order issued on September 9, the court directed the principal secretary of the department of child and women development to convene a meeting and suggest corrective steps.
The court observed that the children were being misused for begging and drug peddling and, hence, should be rehabilitated as soon as possible.
"I was shocked to witness so many abandoned children engaged in beggary and other illegal activities publicly. Police and municipal authorities are mute spectators to this. We have various government-level initiatives to rehabilitate such children. Service organizations too can play a major role," Musthafa said.