Is this national issue that is a real concern. Is this become a profession that needs a real thinking. Or is it that the Government of the day and the Government that has gone by has opted for pushing the ones to beg for their living as their profession and occupation
Government apathy :: Same For The two Community
The situation as we see, and
if we compare it to the situation that the EUNUCH that resides here at India,
we find that there have been , which could be counted on the fingertips, the eunuchs’
have atleast won some elections that they have contested, but if you have to
compare their livings with that of the beggars, we find that there is no
difference at all .Surprisingly the Government too has never done anything to
pull these two community out of the apathy that they face or are facing.
The moment you stop your car
at the traffic red light, you see a dirty looking woman with a
child in her arm come running to you or a little boy with running nose banging
your car window or a handicapped old man asking for alms.
Common Sight In India :: Are These
sponsored or is it that precarious calamity ?
The moment you enter a temple
here at India the situation is the same as described above. The moment you
enter the railway station the scenario is the same, and the moment you start
travelling and if you travel in the reserved sleeper compartment , the eunuchs are the ones who
would stand in front of you for alms. If you pay them fine, if not the kind of
scenario that they create, that in unbearable.
This is a common sight in India. You will find many of these people in the railway stations, metro stations, tourist spots, in temples and in many areas where there is a regular crowd. At times, out of sheer pity or out of fear from being cursed by God or out of irritation, we tend to give them some coins or money and shoo them away.
What is the percentage of beggars in India ?
The national average is 53.13% male beggars to 46.87% female beggars; for Muslims, the ratio is 43.61% male beggars and 56.38% female. “Destitution is the outcome of the failure of government programmes to provide a safety net to its citizens
It has become very hard to understand
whether this is a scenario which has some element of some force behind them
which makes them to do all these. If it is that, then it is a SOCIO-NATIONAL-CRIME
that the country is allowing it to spread, if not than it is high time that the
nation has to think about them.
Introduction :: Rapidly Economic Development But
Beggar Stricken
Associated with the problems of poverty and unemployment
is the problem of beggary which is a social problem of great magnitude and
grave concern in developing countries. Begging is a problem for society in as
much as a large number of beggars means non utilization of available human
resources and drag upon the existing resources of the society.
Food
for Thought
Article 46 of the Constitution of India mandates the state to
promote, with special care, the economic interests of the weaker sections of
the society and to protect them from social injustices and other forms of
exploitations. The duty under Article 46 coupled with the right of every
individual to a dignified life under Article 21, casts an obligation upon all
the state institutions to work towards ensuring socially and economically just
and equal life to all.
Does that mean fighting the menace of beggary is sole
responsibility of the state?
In spite of its rapid economic growth, India is a poverty-driven
country, which is also leading to the growth of beggars in the country.
The right to live is the
basic fundamental which the constitution has provided to every citizen of India.
However within the passage of time, within that
provision, there has been some amendment
made, which has in the long run has tenderized beside terrorizing,
the entire country and has decayed its
root for a healthy growth, and the fundamental of reservetions has completely
choked the development of this country. This has led to many of them turning
pauper and finally many have become the beggers.
If you look into the case of beggars now, you would be stunned
that even the post-graduates have forcibly, taken to this profession. . The
picture depicted above is a beggar who is a post graduate who lost his legs in
an accident, and now is bent upon begging. The mode of payment to him via the phone
pay or the Google is a complete essence about his having a bank account and the
manner he operates it.
Part III and Part IV Of The
Indian Constitution :: Failure Of The state To “ COHENCE ”
This is one case. There are many where a fully fit citizen, possessing
a sound knowledge and having led a cool and a comfortable life, after passing
out his last exam and after trying all the means to get a job, having failed
has turned to begging and the gamut of it is changed but the essence for one to
understand that he is begging remains the same.
It is well settled that the right to life is the right to live
with dignity and with necessities of life required for it. The
social contract between the citizen and the State is a contract by which in
exchange for the citizen ceding her or his, autonomy partially, the State promises her or
him , security over her person and a
life with dignity.
In our constitutional framework, this is guaranteed by Part
III which enjoins the State not only to protect life but also to
advance it, and Part IV which mandates that the State shall allocate
resources so as to further the common good.
Begging in India for
Poverty
Inspite of it being a SOCIAL-OFFENSE begging in India is the only option left for
the ones who have nothing else to choose for . Those who cannot, choose the
other path, and that is the world of crime. Those who cannot choose the world
of crime, they choose begging.
. In spite of its rapid
economic growth, India is a poverty-driven country, which is also leading to
the growth of beggars in the country. Most of them come from Bangladesh and
some of them are from India. There are few beggars in the country
who actually are the real ones, who beg because they are handicapped, because
of their inability to work or because they are old or blind or because they
really need money for basic needs. There are many others who live far below
the poverty line and opt for begging to earn their livelihood.
In
some cases, we find the entire family is involved in begging. The
family members keep on increasing with marriage and birth and each of them gets
into begging on streets or temples. Children of such families do not go to
school but only beg. They have to do begging because their family’s income is
not enough to feed the entire family in a day, and they involve their childrens
into it because they cannot send them to the school. . Here, poverty is one big
reason for such a situation. But at the same time, begging is not the solution for such a situation.
Laws Governing Begging in India
In India,
there is no central law which penalises begging.
Although, 22 states (including few Union Territories) have their anti-begging
laws. The Act which functions as the derivative figure for all the state
anti-begging law is Bombay Prevention
of Begging Act, 1959.
The act
prescribes penalty of more than 3 years of jail in case of first conviction for
begging and person can be ordered to be detained for 10 years in subsequent conviction.
Child Beggars in India :: It Is A Multi Million Industry
According to a conservative estimate, 3 lakh children across India are forced to beg, using
everything from addiction to drugs, to threats of violence and actual beatings.
They form the foot soldiers of what is a now a multi-million rupee industry led
by human trafficking cartels. The Indian National Human Rights
Commission reports that 40,000 children are abducted in India every year, over
25% of whom remain untraced. It is often assumed that these children belong to
families who push them into begging.
Children are abducted (and even in some cases sold to) by
anti-social / terror groups and sold to begging mafia in India. These gangs
then deploy these child beggars very far away from their home location so that
they are untraceable. These kids then are taught, tortured,
drugged and made to beg at traffic signals, near temples, hospitals, and plush
restaurants.
Sometimes these child beggars in India are even maimed to make
them more likely to receive higher sums of alms. Some doctors in India have
even been caught red-handed while taking money against maiming children for
these begging mafia lords. Child trafficking in India is a huge
menace and most of the trafficked children are being sold off to drug lords and
begging mafias within India. Some female children are being sold off in the
international markets for prostitution.
Begging in India a
scam :: In India It Has Become A “ BIG – RACQUET”
Poverty is real
in India but not begging. Begging for most of the cases is being forced
and I have cited some examples above. Cruelly and unjustifiably, unduly and
injudiciously many are forced into this act of begging and there
has been mafias who are running this unsocial and unjustifiable mean that has
now become a trade which we call it begging.
Begging in India has become a big racket in
the country. For many, begging is just like any other profession. They go out
to earn money, not by working, but by begging. In fact, there are begging
gangs in cities like Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata etc. These
gangs have their own gang leaders. Each leader allots a particular
territory for a group of beggars and the day’s earnings are shared among them.
The gang leader keeps the larger share. These beggars are so involved in
begging that they don’t want to work elsewhere. It’s strange but true that some
of these beggars earn in thousands
and lakhs, much more than a normal
middle class worker.
There has been two cases at
Karnataka the place where I stay now at Bangalore. A beggar who had expired has
left about 2 crores worth of coin and the other one had left over 1.50 crores
in terms of the currency note and the coins.
Legality of Bagging :: Contradicts and Assists Begging
According to the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959, which
criminalize the begging, the provision not only criminalizes the begging in the
Mumbai but also in various metropolitan cities such as Delhi.
However, last year, the Delhi High Court in a landmark judgment
has held the Act as unconstitutional in Delhi, on grounds that it violates Article
14 and Article 21 of the Constitution restoring the rights of
persons who have no other means of sustenance but to seek alms.
The court has acknowledged that the application of the
anti-beggary act has largely been arbitrary, leading to the detention the poor
who may not be engaged in begging, but could be people who have “fallen through
the socially created net” — they could be homeless, poor persons living with
disabilities, transgender persons, migrant or sex workers.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice
C. Harishankar has noted that it is a state whose duty is to
provide a dignified life to its citizens.
About four lakh beggars of India must have heaved a sigh of relief
with the Delhi High Court ruling that seeking alms is not a crime, even as
blasting the government for turning a blind eye toward the most vulnerable and
downtrodden section of society.
The unprecedented decision to strike down as many as 25 provisions
of a bootless, draconian anti-beggary legislation also means instant freedom
for hundreds of panhandlers being prosecuted and dumped into dungeons for
months on end.
The Real
And The Farcical :: The Dangling Suspicion Looms
It is very difficult to find out who is a real beggar and who is
not because looks are very deceptive. Even the children with their dirty faces
with pleading looks are properly trained to beg and look real.
Sometimes our heart melts when we see a young woman holding her
tiny baby, begging on the streets. In
most cases, the baby is found sleeping. This is a scam. These babies are fed up with a sleeping pill so
that they keep on sleeping and these ladies who hold them beg for alms.
Many sting operations have revealed that babies are rented to give credibility to begging. Sometimes, babies are drugged for the entire day so that they look sick and they can be easily carried from one area to another by the young women beggars.
The beggars are trained to become very persistent while begging that you are bound to give them money. This is especially true for foreigners when they do not know how to react in such situations and ultimately give money to the beggars. Some of the young beggars also become anti-social elements of the country. They get into drugs. To buy drugs, they start with begging first, then slowly graduate to pick pocketing and then move on to bigger scams like robbing and killing.
What should we do?
Begging has grown at a
significant rate in India. It is estimated that half a million
people in India are beggars. The government, varied organizations,
activists claim that many measures have been taken to abolish begging and it
has been successful to a certain extent. But the trend of begging still
continues. We are also to be blamed. We as Indians are very orthodox,
God-fearing and have a religious frame of mind. This compels us to do charity.
And one easy way is to visit a nearby temple and give alms to the beggars
there.
Both the Union Government and the State
Government will have to be very tough and cruel to put a halt to the menace.
But as the citizens of this
country, it is our moral responsibility to stop this menace and the best way is
to stop
giving alms. It might seem that we are very heartless in not giving
money to a little child begging on the street, but this is one step that we can
take to prevent begging. If more and more people come out and take
a pledge that they are not going to give a single penny to any beggar,
irrespective of their need, I am sure, beggary will then be completely uprooted
from our country.
Meanwhile,as descrtibed
above, let the government continue with
its poverty
alleviation schemes and make India a better place to live in.
That is it
Regards and Thanks
Pics
Shyamal Bhattacharjee
Mr Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree in B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA, a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur as a Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored FIVE books namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought published by Pustak Mahal in 2001 Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It published by Manas Publications in 2009 and Essential Of Office Management published by NBCA, Kolkatta in 2012, GOLDEN QUOTES on Inspiration, Sorrow, Peace and Life, published by B.F.C Publications, Lucknow, and QUOTES:: Evolution and Origin of Management Electives by Clever Fox Publishing, Chennai and From Dhyan To Dhan :: Indian Hockey - Sudden Death Or Extra Time published by Clever Fox Publishing House . He has a experience of about 35 years in Marketing .
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