A REDEFINED, REDESIGNED APPROACH

 Authored by Jayaroopinni S S

As soon as I parked my vehicle in front of the ATM in one of the busiest streets in Chennai, an unmasked beggar woman with a newborn child came really close to me for alms. I got alarmed and asked her to wear a mask, which she did. This is not the first time I have encountered such an incident since the Covid outbreak.

Paupers are everywhere to be seen in India especially in places of worship, restaurants, small tiffin centres, traffic signals, railway stations, etc. The then Union Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot in March 2021 informed Rajya Sabha that India has around 4 lakh beggars according to 2011 census¹.

Giving alms is considered as a dharma, act of love and compassion in various religions. We could still come across people who consider the same. But the modern age ‘begging’ is more than what we have known.

When the states are providing food grains and other cooking essentials for a very low price, the context of what is known to us as ‘begging due to poverty’ loses here. Of course, we cannot take into consideration the mentally unstable people roaming the streets. 

People’s participation

Some people out of compassion give alms to every beggar that approach them. This in fact encourages them. We could see men and women with good physiques begging. Let us give a new meaning to the old Tamil saying, ‘Paathiram Arinthu Pichai Idu’ (Old say means to reward the poet based on his skills). People should be giving alms, if necessary, only to those aged or differently abled beggars.

A Covid threat

With the World Health Organisation and Governments asking people to wear masks and social distance in such a crucial time, we could see all these beggars roaming without masks. It is obvious that many are not even aware enough about what is going around them. 

With the threats of high transmissible variants like Delta and Delta plus going on, the state must take sufficient steps to create awareness among such people. The state should also take necessary steps to vaccinate these people.

An Image

Paupers roaming the streets have been the image of not only India but also many South Asian and African countries in the eyes of the world. This situation should be addressed enough. Swachh Bharath Abhiyan launched in 2014 with the mission of open defecation free India (rural and urban) has fairly been a success. Such Nation-wide missions for beggars could improve the fate of the nation.

Begging as an institution

Begging has become an institution in India. We could see it getting linked with human trafficking, heinous crimes and sometimes even with terror activities. We could see groups/individuals who maintain these beggars as an organisation. The National Human Rights Commission in its 2016 report stated that around 40,000 children are being abducted every year in India, out of which 25 percent remain untraced.  Kidnapping children for begging is a crime under Indian Penal code, 363-A. Various states have passed acts against begging considering it as an offence. However, there is neither a central law that deals with begging nor the states which have these laws enforce it effectively. If we look sensitively into this issue, these laws were misused to harass the poor.

A redefined, redesigned approach

Instead of laws that prohibit begging by providing penalties of detentions and fines, comprehensive laws that work towards the rehabilitation of beggars should be made. Some cities have  night shelters for the homeless. Nevertheless, centres should be built by the state for their shelter temporarily, where the working age group people’s (15-59yrs) skills are identified and trained to develop it. They must also be educated on various government welfare schemes during their stay in those centres. Dependable age groups must be sent to their respective care centres with the children getting the necessary educational needs.

These people could be directed to start a new life starting with resettling them and providing them ration cards, which make them eligible for various benefits from the state. 

Institutional begging must be done away with and the organisers be punished. Abolishing begging not only improves the image of India in the eyes of the world but also reduces other related crimes taking place concealed behind begging. This also gives a new meaning to the lives of the beggars.

 

Reference:

  1.       Over 4 lakh beggars in India, West Bengal ranks top: Govt informs Rajya Sabha (aninews.in)