Study reveals 57% of Odisha’s road youngsters disadvantaged of training throughout pandemic

A joint speedy evaluation performed by the Orissa State Commission Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR), UNICEF and the Odisha chapter of Save the Children organisation has revealed that 57 per cent of road youngsters residing in Odisha’s cities had been disadvantaged of free and obligatory training through the pandemic.
The examine additional revealed that round 17 per cent of those youngsters had been residing in unsafe areas underneath unsafe circumstances and had been uncovered to exploitation in varied kinds.
The evaluation was carried out for 972 youngsters residing on the streets of 5 cities — Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur and Puri. The quantitative survey acknowledged that 47 per cent of those youngsters had been residing on the similar location for greater than 5 years however had been by no means recognized or rehabilitated.

“The idea was to study and understand the status of children who live off the streets either with their parents or with their relatives during the pandemic. The study will also be shared with the state government and measures will be taken to provide help to these children at policy level as well,” a member of the survey workforce stated.
The household revenue of those youngsters ranged between Rs 5,000 to 10,000 – a determine that was severely affected through the lockdown, the examine revealed. The supply of revenue of the households ranged from every day wage contractual labour, rag-picking, begging, working as home helps or as road distributors.

The survey additionally touched upon consciousness concerning the pandemic, and located that 87 per cent of the youngsters had been conscious of Covid-19 and the precautions that one should take to make sure security.
Other findings of the examine acknowledged that 56 per cent of the youngsters sampled had moved locations greater than as soon as through the pandemic to discover a safer place to remain. Around 66 per cent of the households surveyed had no ration playing cards or entry to free ration. Around 5 per cent of the youngsters had been discovered to be underweight and stunted, whereas 37 per cent had been suspected to lack correct nourishment.