A Delhi survey paints a disturbing picture Roofless childhood     * There are 51,000 street children in Delhi; 20% are girls.     * 70% are on the street despite having a home in Delhi     * 50.5% are illiterate. 87% earn a living—20% as ragpickers, 15.8% as street vendors, 15% by begging     * Over 50% have suffered verbal, physical or sexual abuse     * Fewer than 20% have ID cards or birth certificates, and...

In a stark reminder of the exploitation of street children, a new study has found that one out of every five street urchins in Delhi is a rag picker. With most adults unwilling to do the work of rummaging through the city's garbage, an overwhelming number of children have been driven to do it. About 15% children are street vendors, while 15% depend on begging for their living. With the country...

Three pronouncements made on three consecutive days this month by the Supreme Court of India have brought relief to different groups of economically and socially deprived people. The beneficiaries include children sold out by poor parents to work in circuses as child labour; young men and women determined to get married crossing caste barriers and harassed for that very reason by ‘khap panchayats'; and the hungry poor across the country...

India's Supreme Court has ordered circuses to stop employing children and instructed the government to rescue and rehabilitate working minors. Until a recently passed amendment, circuses were largely exempt from India's Child Labour Act which bans the employment of children under 14. But circus owners ignored the ruling and the court is now enforcing the ban. Circus professionals criticised the law, saying training from a young age is crucial for developing skills. "One can...

It is estimated that India lost 1.8 million children under five in 2008. That is more than 200 child deaths every hour, each day, or more than three deaths every minute. Out of about 25 million babies born every year in India, one million die. Most who survive do not get to grow up and develop well. About 48 per cent are stunted (sub-normal height) and 43 per cent are...