Project Jeevanjyot 2.0: Punjab To Conduct DNA Tests On Children Found Begging With Adults To Verify Parentage

Chandigarh: With an aim to prevent child trafficking and exploitation, the Punjab government has, in an unprecedented move, decided to conduct a DNA test of children found begging along with adults accompanying them on streets to verify parentage.

Stating that instructions in this regard have been sent to all the deputy commissioners in the state, the social security, women and child development minister Baljit Kaur said that the move – which is a part of the "Project Jeevanjyot 2.0 – save the childhood'' aims to prevent child trafficking and exploitation.

She said that if a child is found begging with an adult, a DNA test would be conducted to ascertain their relationship and until the test results are available, the child will be kept in a childcare centre and if the test proves that the adult is not related to the child, strict legal action will be taken against the adult.

The need for the DNA testing arose as children are soft targets for organised trafficking networks that abduct, traffic and maim children and force them into begging, which is a serious violation of child rights. Children are trafficked, separated from their biological families, and forced into begging and there are no means of identification or verification of claims of guardianship of the accompanying adult, the project instructions said.

"Oftentimes, it is seen that young girls are seen begging on the streets who have a sleeping infant tied to them with a cloth. The infant shows less mobility and the young mothers seem less bothered about the condition of the child. These sightings have become common in urban areas especially at traffic light points’’, the project instructions read further.

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Further, upon rescue, it becomes difficult for authorities to confirm whether an accompanying adult is the child's legitimate parent or guardian. This gap can result in children being re-trafficked or returned to abusers due to lack of scientific verification of kinship. Hence, there is a need to implement modern strategies like DNA testing to ascertain the relationship of the child and the accompanying adult to rule out any doubts of trafficking, the instructions added.

The objective of the DNA testing is to verify the biological relationship between rescued children and their accompanying adults, to identify cases of child trafficking and take legal action against traffickers, to enable timely rehabilitation and repatriation of trafficked children and to establish a robust mechanism against child exploitation through forced begging.