Following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Kerala’s Malappuram district municipal chairman K P Musthafa seeking rehabilitation of street children in Mumbai, the Bombay High Court has asked Maharashtra government to take immediate steps.

According to The Times of India, the PIL was filed a year ago, after Musthafa noticed the poor living conditions of street children on the premises of the secretariat in southern Mumbai during a visit.

The order which was issued on September 9 has directed the principal secretary of the department of child and women development to call an immediate meeting to take necessary action.

The court had also observed that the children were being misused for begging and drug peddling.

“I was shocked to witness so many abandoned children engaged in beggary and other illegal activities publicly. Police and municipal authorities are mute spectators to this. We have various government-level initiatives to rehabilitate such children. Service organizations too can play a major role,“ Musthafa told TOI.