This Mechanical Engineer Quit His Job And Started A Mission On Foot To Make India Free Of Child Beggars

We’ve all complained about things that are wrong with our system. We all dream of a day when the society will be a better place for us to live in. How many of us have actually done something to bring about the change we hope to see in the society? Here’s someone, trying his best to initiate the change which he looks forward to seeing in the society, working towards eradicating child beggars from India.

Meet Ashish Sharma, a youngster from Delhi who is walking 17,000 kilometres to bring an end to child begging. Ashish loves to call himself a healer in the mission to heal India of all its vices, to give each child the education he/she deserves, ensuring there are no child beggars in the country. He believes the responsibility of bringing the change which we want to perceive in the society should be initiated by us.

The journey

When The Logical Indian spoke to Ashish about what motivated him to embark on this journey, he said, “I have been visiting old-age homes since class 6. But soon I realised, the root cause of our problems lies with the children in our society. If the children are not happy, how will we ensure better lives for the senior citizens? There are so many child beggars on the streets, no body hardly does anything for them. I knew I had to something for them. But how many lives can I touch individually, 50 or even 100? My aim is to mobilise the entire youth community to achieve a larger goal.”

He flagged off the walk, on August 22, 2017, and in these days he has already covered over four hundred and fifty kilometres. Ashish, a soul of rhyming, successfully completed his B.Tech from The Institute of Engineers and left his cushy job as a mechanical engineer only to start OneGoOneImpact Campaign that received immense support from all people in India. Unmukt India is what this 17,000-kilometer long walk is known as and it is being held under the Duayen Foundation.

This campaign will cover all 29 states, 7 Union Territories and 4900 villages to create awareness about the social vice, child begging. Child beggars more often than not are subjected to violence, abuse and exploitation. Ashish said, “I am walking for a cause. The cause in this context being the betterment of my nation. 17,000 kilometre is a stretch which anyone hardly has walked till date. I am bearing the brunt to bring about a stir in the consciousness of people.”

Ashish with children in schools.

Impact and change

Upon asking Ashish about the change he wants to bring about, he said, “The change that I am aiming for is at a psychological level. Once people get to know that someone is walking 17,000 kilometres for a cause like child beggars and going through immense pain, they’ll also be touched at some level. This will help in getting them mobilised.”

The target group of change makers are the ones who are literally running the country. The responsibility lies with school or college principals and bureaucrats. He visits schools, colleges and delivers talks about how can the youth help in being a part of the change making process, giving a better future for the child beggars. This helps in creating awareness about what problems can the youth of the country expect to see within the next five years and how can they effectively be the torch bearers of change.

He has given himself a time span of nine months and plans to observe June 14, 2018, as Unmukt Diwas to unite everyone over a pledge. Pledge to strive for a better society, free of child beggars, where every child has access to education.

Asish is also designing an app that will effectively help in rehabilitating child beggars. A stretch of five kilometres is marked and schools or police station or are marked within the area. An intimation will be sent to these schools or orphanages or police station when any child beggar who spotted in this span of five kilometres. They will take up the responsibility of the child and ensure that he doesn’t take recourse to begging any longer.

This walk also looks at integrating organisations to create an environment which would unite like-minded people who are aiming at bringing about a positive impact in the society. He believes, through this approach, a strong network of change makers will be aligned together and who can work towards reaching a common goal. This will also help in creating a sustainable environment which would successfully fight each and every vice existing in the society, be it child beggars or even poverty or be it a dowry.

He believes that within the next five years, he will eradicate almost 19 major issues that include gender issues as well. “If we want a better nation, we have to assure a safe and dignified future for children. A failure of the system and lack of opportunities should not let affect their childhood as well as their basic constitutional and human rights.”

Upon asking his message for the readers for The Logical Indian, he said, “Let us take it upon ourselves to eradicate the problems which we are facing, instead of complaining about them. Children will surely be a rock solid support system if we raise them well today. Only then can see a substantial growth both in them and future generations.” The Logical Indian community wholeheartedly applauds the efforts taken up by Ashish. He is an inspiration for all of us.

Click Here To Know More About Unmukt India