Doors to future open for former child beggar who gets 66%

A child beggar, who had developed an addiction to sniffing glue and whitener-like substances (a common addiction amidst street children), has scored 66.4 % in his Secondary School Certificate examination this year. Panchi Tirki, has spent the past 10 years living with with an NGO named 'Support' that encourages street children and homeless youth to give up their drug habit.

Tirki, at the age of 6 years, was rescued by Support from CST railway station along with his brother Manoj who might be 7 years old. They use to beg and also had their addiction.

Sujata Ganega, Executive Director, Support, said, "Panchi was very small when he was rescued with his brother. We rescue such children who roam on streets and don't have families. They are brought to our dropping centre where they are counselled and then sent to a rehabilitation centre. There they go through the detoxification process, after which they are brought in for the residential programme, where they live with us and take education in schools. We are proud of Tirki's achievement."

Recollecting the past, Panchi Tirki said, "I remember that we came from Jharkhand. I use to beg on the street with my elder brother in Mumbai. We lost our parents in our childhood. My brother brought me to Mumbai. We use to eat food from the money we begged or the people use to give it to us. We also were addicted to drugs, and we left it behind after coming to Support. The NGO helped us a lot. I studied hard in my SSC exam like my brother did. He also passed his SSC last year with 73%. Like my brother, I am going to do ITI course now. Whenever I see a child begging or consuming drugs, I counsel them."

Panchi is a very good dancer and organises all the dance programmes with the children in the NGO. He also teaches the children living with the NGO. He started studying from December, and preferred to get up at 5 am to study.