885.1
Positive Indicators of Well-Being: The Child Protection Welfare Bureau (CPWB), Lahore
Lahore can be described as a “primate” city which translates as a city that is dominant, socially, economically and politically. Mumford (1937) writes of the city as a social institution and describes the concept of opportunities. It could well be the case that many rural migrants in the hope of a utopia of opportunities are met with a dystopic future instead, often to the extent that they find themselves begging. The obvious reason for migration would be for better prospects perhaps even to the extent of an envisaged “Lahore Dream”, in line with the concept of an American Dream as espoused by James Truslow Adams. (Saeed, 2013)
Amongst those who beg, one can also find a number of children begging. The Child Welfare Bureau (CPWB) is an institution created by the Punjab government, to eliminate child beggary by helping destitute and neglected children with the co-operation of the police. It is, therefore, a formal response by the Punjab government to eliminate child beggary within the province.(The Nation, 2005) The pilot project began in Lahore and has since expanded throughout the Punjab.
This paper will explore conceptual and practical frameworks that are in place by the CPWB in Lahore in understanding children’s well-being and will attempt to measure those indicators of well-being (Lippman et al, 2009) through a didactic approach of the perspectives of both those running the bureau and from a sample of fifteen 11-14 year old youths. The paper will therefore take into account various dimensions of children’s well-being within society taking into account dimensions such as gender, class, race, ethnicity, caste, religious background.