Hyderabad: A study conducted by Hyderabad-based NGO Save the Children found that there are 28,560 street children in the city.
The survey, conducted between September 2015 and January 2016, covering all 150 wards of GHMC, reported that of the number of street children, 61 per cent were boys and 39 per cent girls.
The children were categorised under three groups, street-living children – who live alone in the streets without a family or adult blood relative; street-working children – those who work on the streets or public places but return to their families; and children of street families who are homeless but stay with the family in streets.
According to the study, 70 per cent of them fall into the category of street-working children, who work on the streets but return to their families after work.
Nearly 15 per cent of them are from homeless families living on pavements. About 3 per cent are in the category of street-living children who live without any family our blood relative, the study reported. Over 11 per cent of street children are in other categories.
The census study has revealed that the place of origin of majority of street children (78.7 per cent) are villages of Telangana followed by migrants from Andhra Pradesh, who account for 12 per cent. Karnataka and Rajasthan account for 2.35 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.
According to the study, the major hot spots are public places - railway stations, bus stops, places of worship, spaces under bridges / flyovers and children homes. In addition, construction sites, graveyards and dumping yards also emerged as important hot spots for street children.
