Urbanisation, Street Children, and Their Problems

Street children can be considered as one of the by-products of the urbanisation process in developing countries. These children are to struggle very hard for their survival on the streets in very highly competitive environments, otherwise they fall prey to the public or even to their own parents also. Their childhood is seized, they are abused and their labour is greatly exploited for the benefit of others. In this book an attempt has been made to present a holistic profile of the street children of a growing urban city of Eastern India. Especially the prime thrust of the book concentrates on the aspects, like motive behind coming over to urban bases, educational and occupational profile of their parents and their family size, category and shelter of the street children, educational and occupational pattern of the street children, expenditure and savings, occupational hazards, use of earnings of these children by their parents, nourishment and addictive behaviour, health and hygiene, educational choice and future perspectives, attitudes of the public toward the street children etc. Apart from all these, the book also speaks about the pre and post-independence legislations on these children, UN s convention on rights of the child and National Plan of Action, State Plan of Action, welfare agencies working for the betterment of these children etc. Contents: Introduction, Profile of Bhubaneswar City, Family Milieu, Socio-Economic Profile of the Street Children, Struggle for Survival The Problems of Street Children, Legislation, Welfare Programmes and the Street Children, A Recipe for Development of Street Children, Summary and Conclusion.