Mysuru: From traffic signals to Railway Stations, child beggars in our country are a ubiquitous sight. While we cringe and complain, a Mechanical Engineer from Delhi is doing something about it. Meet Ashish Sharma, a twenty-nine-year-old techie-turned-child rights activist, who left his job at a multi-national corporation to walk 17,000 kilometres on foot for achieving ‘child begging-free India.’

Sharma, a young professional returning home from work in 2015, saw a lean child with a bleeding hand, begging. Moved by the pathetic sight, the young man took the child home, gave him first-aid, some new clothes and got him enrolled in a nearby school. But he did not stop here. Deciding to pursue this issue, he quit his job and embarked on a journey to cover the entire country on foot to create awareness against child begging.

“The thought of other children trapped in similar existence did not let me sleep. And I decided to launch a mission against child begging,” said Ashish Sharma, who reached Mysuru yesterday.

On Christmas Day in 2015, Sharma quit his job to pursue his dream — eradication of child begging.  “After doing extensive research, I concluded that the condition was going from bad to worse. The government-run welfare schemes were not reaching those who actually deserved them, because of lack of awareness,” he said.

He started his walk from Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir and has covered thousands of kilometres across 21 States including J&K, Delhi, Himachal, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Daman-Diu, Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Sikkim, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura.

Sharma walks with a backpack, a mobile phone, some cash and an Indian Flag. He wishes ‘Jai Hind’ to everyone he talks to. Speaking on how the comfort-accustomed technocrat has managed on the streets, he says, “I am covering the entire distance solely on foot. It started with troubles and a lot of dehydration. Now I have a backpack filled with all I need.”

He said he travelled around 30 to 40 kms a day and met thousands of people to make them aware of the welfare schemes that could change an individual’s life. So far, he has covered 14,260 kms. “I have also met Chief Ministers of five States and handed over my proposal to make India a nation free of child begging,” he said.

Sharma feels though governments have their responsibilities, demanding rights from governments haven’t yielded much till now. “72 years after Independence, we still have to raise voice against child begging. I feel the society has as much responsibility as the Government does. It’s time we started taking them up,” Sharma says.

Two of his friends, who are IAS officers, are helping him with the finances of his mission. “I don’t beg from anyone. It would sound ridiculous to fight begging with begging,” he said with a wink. The 17,000 km walk is expected to end in October this year.

He wants to complete his mission in the burial place of former President late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. “It was his (Kalam)vision that all children should go to school by 2020. I shall not rest till then,” Sharma said.