Nawanshahr- As per the instructions received from the Director Women and Child Development Department Punjab, continuous efforts are being made by Deputy Commissioner Ankurjit Singh (IAS) to eradicate child begging from the district under the ongoing campaign against child begging in the district to implement Project Jeevan Jot.
In view of which, today, on 24 July 2025, under the leadership of District Program Officer Mr. Jagroop Singh and under the chairmanship of District Child Protection Officer Kanchan Arora, a special checking was conducted by the team against child begging and child labor at Balachaur Block Bhaddi Road, Bus Stand, Dana Mandi and Kangana Bhet Road under District Nawanshahr. Checking One child below the age of 18 was freed from child begging and along with this, one child (age about 16 years) was freed from child labor.
After rescuing the children, they have been presented before the Child Welfare Committee so that further action can be taken to ensure the safety of the children. On this occasion, the District Child Protection Officer made the shopkeepers and the general public aware that making children below the age of 18 beg and making them do child labor is a crime under the law. He said that to eradicate child labor from the root, children who beg should not be given money in begging and children below the age of 18 should not be made to work.
Rather, their parents should be counseled so that they send their children to study in schools instead of begging or making them do labor. On this occasion, Child Protection Officer Gaurav Sharma also informed about the sponsorship scheme being run by the government for needy children, under which financial assistance of Rs. 4000 per month is given to needy and helpless children for their education.
Apart from this, he appealed to the general public to ensure the safety of children and said that if any person sees a child below the age of 18 engaged in begging or doing labor, then the information regarding this should be given to the District Child Protection Unit on Child Helpline number 1098.
The checking team included District Child Protection Officer Kanchan Arora, Child Protection Officer Gaurav Sharma, Labor Officer Shri Harvinder Singh, Lovepreet Singh SI and Usha Rani Lady Constable from the Police Department, Surinder Lal from the Health Department, Primary Teacher Prince Kumar and Baljit Kumar from the MC office.