"Our country and future is in the hands of children. I urge you all to go to schools and lighten up your lives and grow up in future," said Devgn, who is a father of two kids.
The 45-year-old actor was speaking at 'Project Parivartan' programme, an initiative by Mumbai Police in association with Women & Child Welfare Department and Tribal Development Department, organised at Bhartiya Vidhyabhavan auditorium in south Mumbai.
The cause was supported by various NGOs involved in rehabilitation of begging and hawking communities. There are 491 families of Faase Pardhi and Waghri tribes who along with their 1,233 children beg on south Mumbai streets alone, as per the figures provided by NGOs.
Appealing the parents to willingly send their children to government schools, the 45-year-old actor said, "The government officials are here to assist you (parents) in all possible ways to ensure that the children can pursue education without any hassles and are given optimum opportunities and a holistic growth. There are various NGOs too which will provide you (parents) jobs while your children study in schools."
Devgn reminded the children that if they desist from studying then the efforts made so far by him, the government and NGOs would go waste.
The parents of these children will also be rehabilitated by providing skills training and employment by the government agencies and NGOs so that they do not let their children drop out of school and re-initiate them into begging, said Additional Police Commissioner (South) Krishna Prakash, who organised the event.
"We will help the children to enroll in government schools. We aim to create a beggar-free zone in south Mumbai," he said.
The programme was also attended by Mumbai Police Joint Commissioners B K Upadhyay (Traffic), Dhananjay Kamalakar (Law and Order) and officials from government agencies and NGOs.
