A begging bowl that won’t break

Authorities continue to struggle with city’s beggar problem despite arrests

LAHORE: Authorities in Lahore just can’t seem to get a grip on the city’s beggar problem. Although the city’s law enforcement agencies have arrested and lodged cases against beggars in droves in recent times, the number of these pleading for alms on the streets appears to grow day by day.

“We caught 942 beggars in the past six months alone,” said Chief Traffic Officer Capt (retd) Malik Liaquat. “The kids among them we handed over to the Child Protection Bureau. The rest we handed over to relevant police stations.”

“But still, the number of beggars continues to grow due to a lack of any strategy to work towards a permanent solution,” he told The Express Tribune. “Take transgender beggars, despite being physically capable of working, they choose not to do so because people give them money,” he said. “And when we arrest them for begging, their companions raise a ruckus and fight us while NGOs accuse us of violating their rights.”

Beggars on the streets

Lahore Police caught another 72 beggars in the last two months, according to SSP Operations Ismail Kharak. “We registered cases against 54 of them under the Begging Act but they were punished only for a few hours when presented in court,” he said.

Talking about child beggars, Kharak said one problem is that the child protection department only has space for 300 children. “A beggar centre with 100 beds was set up in Raiwind, but it is not fully functional due to lack of funds.”

According to the officer, beggars also pose a security risk. “A terrorist can pretend to be a beggar to scout out potential targets,” he said.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Child Protection Bureau Chairperson Sara Ahmed said their teams coordinate with the police and local administration in different districts on actions against child beggars.

Public nuisance: City to move beggars from streets to shelters

“We keep any child found begging with the bureau. If their parents contact us, then the bureau’s special magistrate is empowered to forgive the parents, but only for the first instance of being caught while begging,” she said. “Parents of such children are made to sign an oath that they will not make them beg again. Those determined to be professional beggars are fined.” She advised citizens to act responsibly and discourage child beggars for their own good.

Legal expert Syed Farhad Ali Shah, meanwhile, blamed the ever-increasing rise in beggars’ numbers on incomplete implementation of the Begging Act. He urged the government to revise the law and take stern action against professional begging rings. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2019.