Lost Childhood

Lost Childhood explores the everyday lives of street children in India. It presents insights on their life on the streets to provide a comprehensive understanding of why they are driven to extreme means of livelihoods.This volume,· Inquiries into the histories of street children, and discusses their socio-economic and socio-demographic characteristics to provide a sense of their living conditions;· Sheds light on the social injustice experienced by these children, their health and hygiene, and also looks at the insecurities faced by the children in their interactions with the society;· Uses detailed field research data to highlight issues that affect the lives of street children such as education, gender discrimination, and their social networks;· Suggests a way forward that would not only benefit street children but will also be of use to the community in understanding their lives, problems, and help explore this issue in further detail.The book will be useful to scholars and researchers of human geography, development studies, child development, urban poverty, and social justice. It will also be of interest to policymakers, social workers, and field workers who work with street children.

Kapil Dev works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography in St. Wilfred's P.G. College, Jaipur. He was awarded his Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi for his research on the conditions of Street Children in Delhi. For his M.Phil., he focused on the characteristics of the Rural workforce. His fields of expertise are Street Children, Rural Work Force, Crime, Population Geography and Remote Sensing. He has published several papers on crime against women, and migrant workers in India.Dipendra Nath Das is a Professor in the Centre for the Study of Regional Development, and the Dean of the School of Social Sciences in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. In his more than 26 years of career, he is involved in teaching since the last 20 years. His fields of expertise are Urbanisation, Migration, Population Geography, and applications of geospatial tools in different issues of social research. He has published numerous research articles in national and international journals of repute. He has authored two books on Child Labour, and Population of India.Sangeetha Esther is pursuing her Doctorate in Population Studies from the Centre for the Study of Regional Development in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her current topic of research is Retirement Planning among Salaried workers. She did an extensive study of homeless women in the night shelters of Delhi for her M.Phil. She has volunteered with various organisations that deals with street and slum children, including Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board where she helped manage the Government Night Shelters.