Rising nuisance : Professional beggars exploiting lenient laws
Despite there being a law in place against begging and recent crackdowns, professional panhandlers have taken over every nook and cranny in Lahore citing the growing inflation and unemployment as an excuse.
Legal experts and representatives of social welfare organisations alike believe that the provincial government has not been able to achieve success in its anti-begging drives because of outdated laws and a lack of coordination among departments. Resultantly, nearly every traffic signal or busy shopping centre is flooded with panhandlers.
Shaharzad Aslam, a social activist who works for poverty relief, while talking to The Express Tribune, said that begging had now become a profession rather than a necessity. “These professionals are coming up with new methods of asking for money. It would be better to call them actors,” Aslam opined. Malik Salim and Sarah Dilshad, who work for the rehabilitation of beggars, agree.
“Earlier only nomads used to beg. The tent-settlers we provide health and education to are now worried that because of fraudulent beggars, people will not give them alms anymore.” Since professional panhandling is a problem for the destitute, government, and social welfare organisations alike, The Express Tribune asked legal expert, Azal Mohani, about Punjab’s anti-begging laws. “These laws are very weak. Begging is a bailable offence and often it is not even prosecuted. So the professionals get off scot-free,” Mohani explained, further suggesting that the police should form special teams to root out gangs of such professionals. Director of the Social Welfare Department, Salman Abid, when asked about the laws being weak, concurred with Mohani’s assessment.
“Until a few years ago, Deputy Commissioners had the power to take measures for anti-begging, but then this law lapsed. At present we are working against beggars under the Vagrancy Act, 1958 but under this Act it is the responsibility of the district police to catch beggars.” However, once the professional alms seekers are arrested and presented before the magistrate, it then becomes the magistrate’s discretion of what to do with them. “Usually the beggars are either released immediately or granted bail. Sometimes they will be sent to a welfare home of the welfare department for a specified period,” Abid explained.
This discretion of the magistrate leads to the police refraining from catching the beggars as they think it would be a waste of their time, as per the director. While it remains to be seen when the police will start an effective crackdown on professional alms seekers, residents of Lahore are irked by their presence. Umm-e-Farwa, who was out shopping in the city, said that every market is full of beggars who keep on pestering people. “They either hide their arms or pretend to be blind and mint money out of unwary people,” she remarked.
Similarly, another citizen, Abdul Rab, said that beggars in Lahore had turned to new theatrics to fool people. “Recently, two panhandlers, who said they were a couple conned me into giving them thousands of rupees. They were well dressed, seemed educated and came up with a sob story about losing their job and wanting to make rent,” Rab recalled while talking to The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2022.