Vagrancy: Residents of the capital demand rehabilitation for beggars

Authorities claim they shifted children to care centres to curb the problem

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

They also alleged that given the growing number of child beggars, there was probably a certain mafia which was behind this business as these young children can be seen seeking alms in the cold winter nights at traffic signals, public parks, mosques, shrines and bus stations.

"It is not simply beggars who are increasing in number, associated crimes have also increased. Crimes such as theft and robbery must not be allowed to flourish under this guise," remarked Riaz Hussain, a resident of Sector G-11.

Babar Saleem, a social worker, said that over the years, it had become more common for professional beggars to come out in the holy month of Ramazan, known as the month of giving, but these days their growing number was a matter of serious concern for citizens.

Many are concerned and believe this problem must be probed.

He said that while rising poverty was a genuine issue, but the 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 organisations so that money can be utilised properly," he suggested.

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

He said children were paid more alms which is why children who are 10-years-of-age or younger are preferred to be employed as an attractive tool of business.

"Public sympathy is the only factor to fetch money from people’s pockets," he confessed. He claimed that a beggar makes around Rs500 per day while highly skilled beggars can even bring home over Rs2,000 in a day.

Wadud Chauhan, a student, while expressing concerns over young beggars, said that 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 social evils.

A senior official at the Federal Ombudsman’s office, when asked about the issue, said that they have recommended some necessary steps for beggars’ rehabilitation including the provision of shelters and security for them.

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

When contacted, Operations-Special Superintendent of Police (SSP) said that the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police were continuously launching special campaigns to decrease this practice.

He claimed that they had nabbed some 9,644 beggars in 2018. Of these 3,402 were men and 3,040 beggars were women. Despite claims that children get more money, the number of child beggars was around 3,202.

The SSP, however, admitted that the beggars resurface as they could not take any severe action against them.

He said that specials squads have been constituted to control the begging practice regularly, adding that 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.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2018.