Sex workers’ kids have hope for better future

KALYAN: More than 30 children of commercial sex workers have been embraced by a Kalyanbased NGO, who provide them skill-based training.

Since three months, the NGO has been helping the children from the red light areas of Turbhe, Navi Mumbai. The organisation has also assured the children’s mothers that they’d bear the expenses for their education and arrange for hostel stay.

The Samatol Foundation rescues runaway children and those forced into child labour. These mainly include children found in railway stations or bus stops. During the lockdown, with the public transport being restricted, such children are not to be found. The NGO decided to use their resources for a few children deprived of education.

Vijay Jadhav, the founder of Samatol, said, “We came to know that children of sex-workers at Turbhe red light area in Navi Mumbai are devoid of education. We found that there are 300 such children, most of whom are uneducated. We had to counsel their mothers to send them to us for skill-based learning so that they will have a better future.”

These 30 children were then sent to Samatol Foundation’s Swami Vivekanand Manparivartan Centre at Mamnole in Kalyan. On April 1, the first batch for kids from 8 to 16 years started.

Jadhav added, “We train those below 15 years in computer courses, crafting, painting and knowledge for nursing while those above 15 will be trained in farming, plumbing, tailoring.”

A commercial sex worker in her 40s has admitted her 12-year-old son at the centre. “I was sold three times, got married several times and have five children. I admitted my youngest at the centre with the hope that he will get a better future.”

HT PHOTO A volunteer from a Kalyan-based NGO teaches children of sex workers from Turbhe in Navi Mumbai.