"Operation Mukti", is an operation that aims to protect the rights of children and releases them from oppression of any kind so they can revive their lost childhood.

The operation launched by the state police has reported that child begging has "almost stopped" in Uttarakhand.

Under the "Operation Mukti" which began on May 1, nearly 68 children have been sent to government schools at different places in the state as part of the rehabilitation programme. One child who was blind was given admission to the National Institute of Visually Handicapped (NIVH) here.

Top police officials claimed that they would continue their efforts so that children are not forced into the begging. "If the child begging is not fully stopped but it has surely almost stopped to a large extent," said a top police official.

Through this operation, the police has also taken help of a number of NGOs in stopping the begging especially by the children.

In Dehradun, a large number of such children live in Bindal Basti where they had not even heard about schools. "We have motivated their parents, who are very poor people, about the child education. Now we have sent many children from Bindal Basti to government schools," said Shekhar Suyal, the nodal officer of the operation.

"Our aim is to stop the child begging in our state and rehabilitate them," said Director General of Police (DGP) Anil Raturi.

The police has also registered cases against three women for forcing children to beg at public places. A total of 292 child beggars have been identified so far.

Indo-Asian News Service