'Come forward to help street children'

9 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

Announcing her decision to take whole education responsibility of a street child, lawmaker Tarana Halim said if every well-off family comes forward with such support, no children would have to reside on streets. Apart from the government efforts, people from the privileged groups of the society should do something meaningful for such children, said Tarana, a cultural and human rights activist. She was speaking at a seminar on 'Situation of street children in Dhaka city and way forward' organised at the Cirdap auditorium in the city by Population Services and Training Centre (PSTC) in association with Plan Bangladesh. The government has a number of successes in the implementation of child rights, yet it has miles to go to create a perfect atmosphere for the children to grow up, said Tarana, a deputy of the governing Awami League. Milon Bikash Paul, executive director of the PSTC, presented a keynote speech at the seminar. Referring to the statistics of the Department of Social Services, he said some 335,000 children live on streets in the Dhaka city alone.