Citizens in twin cities concerned over sudden surge in beggars’ number, seek their rehabilitation

Islamabad: Expressing their utmost surprise and concern over a sudden surge in the number of beggars in the city, the residents on Sunday have demanded their rehabilitation to make them productive elements of the society.

They also alleged that the growing number of child beggars was a proof that some certain mafia was behind this business as these juvenile can be seen seeking alms in cold winter nights at traffic signals, public parks, mosques, shrines and bus stations "Its not simply beggars who are growing the increased crimes are also associated with the activity such as theft and robbery and criminals must not be allowed to flourish in the guise of alms-seekers", a resident Riaz Hussain of G-11 sector remarked.

Babar Saleem a social worker said over the years it was professional beggars'' practice that they come out in the holy month of Ramazan, known as the month of giving charity, but in these days their growing number was a matter of serious concern for the citizens which must be probed.

He said no doubt poverty was an issue but majority of the beggars were not needy and they were either professional or involved in some criminal activity.

"The only way to discourage them is that people should give money to relevant charity organizations for their proper utilization" he suggested.

Sultan an old beggar while revealing begging tactics said crushed garlic was tied up to the body parts to make strong acid which burns the outer skin to make it a case for begging.

He said children were paid more alms that is why children less than ten years of age are preferred to be made an attractive tool of business to gain public sympathy.

"Public sympathy is the only factor to fetch money out of people’s pockets," he confessed. He claimed that minimum earning that a beggar makes was Rs500 while a highly skilled even brought home over Rs2,000 a day.

Wadud Chauhan a student while expressing his concern over young beggars said a Social media campaign could be a worthy option to curb this menace and he also stressed on the improvement of governance to effectively deal with such kind of social evils.

A senior official of Federal Ombudsman talking on the issue said they have recommended some necessary steps for beggars rehabilitation including provision of shelters and security to them. He was optimistic that the present government’s initiatives would help improve condition of down trodden of the society.

When Contacted Special Superintendent of Police (SSP) (Operations) said ICT police was continuously launching special campaigns to lower this curse and claimed for nabbing 9,644 beggars during the year 2018, of the total 3,402 were Male while 3,040 women beggars were reported and the number of child beggars was 3202. He however admitted that they resurface as they could not take any severe action against them contrary to the laws of the land.

He said needy children and women were being shifted to the various care-centers after verification so that they could be made responsible citizens.

Specials squads have been constituted to control begging practice regularly; he said adding strict action will be taken against those who force children and women to adopt the cruel profession. Daily performance report of police stations in this regard was also being reviewed, he concluded.