Are we cognitively blind OR conveniently ignore the truth?

I love walking. I believe I have inherited this habit from my father. Walking helps to alleviate my stress, improve my concentration, and focus on the events of the day. But it has added benefits too. This hobby provides me with a means to observe my surroundings, analyse the real estate market, and get a glimpse of not only the economic conditions of our country, but also the changes in the cultural trends.

Now, that I am volunteering with NGO CACR I use this activity time to come up with ideas and to observe our society.One of the most important questions that has been on my mind lately is the living conditions and future of the street children that we come across every day.


 I see children living on the footpaths, railway platforms, and makeshift tents. One of the best observations is perhaps the sheer joy that I saw on their faces and in their eyes when some of them were using the newly installed escalator on a metro station. That kind of joy, which comes from deep within, tends to get imprinted on one’s mind.

I know I am not the only one who has seen them. Sometimes, I see authorities passing by and I question myself, “Are we all blind or is that only me who has misconceptions?” There are documentaries on rag pickers and I wonder if we need more proof to understand that there is a need to change their living conditions. We cause hue and cry on child labour in mills and factories, but what about these kids who live on the roads and platforms, who beg and sell items for a living?  We, 'busy' citizens , usually turn a blind eye to these children who beg for a rupee or two so that they can buy something to fill their bellies. If these children do not have access to the basic right of food, how can they even dream about education? Aren’t these technically child laborers too? 

When I wanted to define this condition that we suffer from, I came across the term "Cognitive Blindness". This term is heavily used in the US TV series, Perception. The term can be defined in lay man’s language as something that is ignored in the environment because its existence is taken for granted. If you  look around, you would find that we are blind to most of the things happening around us because we have accepted them as a fact and believe they wont change...because these occurrences don't concern us directly. 

What about the construction workers and their families who have to move to new places each time based on their new construction project. This is a common scenario in Mumbai, where there is either a road development or building development taking place. Their makeshift tents are on the pavements near their sites. so what happens to the kids of these workers? Do they go to school, do they go the same schools, or do they change school each time the job site changes. Do they have proof of identity attesting they are citizen of India and are they  beneficiary to subsidies? Do they have access to water and education? Are they eligible to open a bank account? They might have been residents in their villages, but that too is questionable. The government does talk about labour insurance for the poor and RTE Act but who will ensure their implementation?  


I agree there are a handful of organizations just working for street children.  But the mammoth task of getting the child off the street and into a school is a slow and difficult process. Are these agencies enough to deal with  such a large number of kids? 

There are so many questions.

CACR has been to many BMC ( innercity)  schools for their work. Few have closed down or on the verge of closing down because of lack of students. Some schools have closed down certain linguistic mediums because of insufficient number of students.These schools or classes close down when there are so many illiterate kids on the road, railway station, and orphanages. Ironic isn't it?   Some orphanages are looking city out for teachers when there is a Government school nearby.Shouldn't there be a rule making it a mandatory for kids to be sent to school ? If there is such a rule, its time the Government takes action for it to be executed successfully.

Nitin Sir the founder director of CACR had once told us that he had spent days to make the street dwellers understand the importance of a education and had to fight tooth and nail with the authorities for it. Isn’t it time we wake up from this artificial blindness and stop relying on breaking news to make us ascertain about the apathy of our society?

We need to find a solution for these streets kids so that they don't wind up as their parents did.We should see to it they get admission in Government schools, they attend it daily, and a suitable penalty is imposed on their family if they miss out.

Should there be an agency or separate branch of police for  monitoring street kids and the public/ALMs (Advanced locality management)/LACNs(Local Are Citizens Networks) / Neighborhood watches/etc be notified the  of such kids who are begging, loitering around, and not going to schools?Its time for the Government, media, NGOs, and schools to come together to take necessary actions.

-JZ volunteers with Citizens Association for child rights.  Website :www.ngocacr.com
(edited by Kavisha and Richa )