NEW DELHI: From her meagre earnings as a ragpicker, Chandni contributes Rs 5 every month to a corpus for and by street children that acts as a buffer against any eventuality. Boys and girls in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh can benefit from it. These children, considered the most vulnerable in socio-economic terms, are reaching out to the flood victims.

They have gone beyond expressing shock and concern and pooled Rs 20,000 for contribution to the Prime Minister’s relief fund . The children, who are part of a network called Badhte Kadam , are expected to send their contributions in a day or two.

Vijay Kumar , national secretary of the network, told TOI that the children can very well empathize with the victims caught in bad weather and hostile terrain. “We live on the streets and understand the threats it poses daily. The victims are in a similar position,” said Kumar, a Class XII student who has evolved from being a child labourer into a volunteer leading a network of about 12,000 children across four states.

When he saw images of the devastation in Uttarakhand , his heart leapt to the victims. “The members of our network started sharing their views on the tragedy and felt it important to do something. We interacted with the children associated with the network to find a way of pooling resources,” Kumar said. After deliberation, the network decided to use the membership fund created for children during an emergency. All the 10,000 members contribute Rs 5 to the fund every month. They include ragpickers, those living in railway stations and doing odd jobs. Badhte Kadam is drawn from 82 contact points for vulnerable children run by NGO Childhood Enhancement Through Education & training. CHETNA’s director Sanjay Gupta said the children’s effort signals the need for joining hands in times of crisis. A draft of Rs 20,000 is ready for dispatch.