Chitwan, November 8

A campaign to rehabilitate street children has been launched in Chitwan. The campaign was launched as a joint initiative by the police and the locals aiming to create Chitwan as street children free district and rehabilitate a large number of street children, who were found addicted to drugs.

A study led by DSP Rajan Adhikari found that most of the street children are addicted to drugs and are involved in criminal activities. Central Regional Police Office Hetauda DIG Devendra Subedi formally launched the campaign on October 31.

According to DSP Adhikari, as many as 27 street children addicted to drugs have been rescued and are being rehabilitated at eight centers in Chitwan and Nawalparasi. The campaigners plan to rehabilitate 50 street children in the first phase. “If we are able to pool in adequate budget for the project, we will rehabilitate more street children in future. These children will be kept at the rehabilitation centers for six months, where they will be counselled and provided other training,” said DSP Adhikari, adding that they would be enrolled in formal and informal educational institutes for job-oriented training.

According to DSP Adhikari, they have so far been able to collect Rs 2 lakh for the project so far. DIG Subedi, who is also the patron of the campaign offered Rs 50,000 on behalf of his office whereas SSP Ramesh Kharel, who is the coordinator of the project, offered Rs 50,000 on behalf of Police Training Center, Bharatpur. The fund has been deposited in bank. Rights activists, social campaigners, entrepreneurs, district education office, doctors and other stakeholders have also joined the campaign voluntarily.

Diyalo Pariwar, a non-governmental organisation had made public a survey report. The report said there were as many as 156 street children in the district in May. As per the report, 75 per cent of these children were addicted to drugs and 43 per cent involved in robbery.