Child begging

It is almost impossible to find a street without beggars in Pakistan. As per current estimates there are between five and 25 million beggars in Pakistan, which would be approximately 2.5 to 11 percent of our total population.

In the wake of the Covid-19 induced economic crisis, beggary appears to be on the rise. In the last week I faced more than 10 street beggars, most happened to be children In 2018, the Sindh cabinet imposed a complete ban on child beggary by directing social welfare departments to pick up children begging in the province and rehabilitate them at welfare centres. Unfortunately, the mafias that control the street beggars have remained operational. I urge the concerned authorities to look into the matter and save thousands of innocent lives.

Fahad Rind

Johi