Public nuisance: City govt joins drive against beggars

LAHORE:

The city government has joined the police in a crackdown against beggary, the DCO announced on Saturday.

The Lahore police launched a campaign against beggars four days ago, with the traffic police joining in two days ago.

On Saturday, District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal said in a statement that the city government had started an operation to remove beggars from the streets. Addressing a Town Hall meeting, the DCO said that the beggars would be sent to Edhi Homes and the Subhani Welfare Centre, operated by two non-government organisations.

The DCO directed all town municipal officers as well as traffic wardens to participate in the campaign. Representatives of the Edhi Homes and the Subhani Welfare Trust, assistant commissioners and town administrators attended the meeting.

Tariq Zaman, the staff officer to the DCO, told The Express Tribune that while genuinely poor people who were caught begging would be sent to shelters in order to get food and accommodation, habitual beggars would be sent to the police. “We aim to assist those in need,” he said.

On March 8, the chief traffic officer released a press statement saying that a crackdown had been launched against beggars on the directions of the capital city police officer (CCPO) because of the nuisance they cause.

The chief traffic officers said that all deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) had been directed to catch the beggars in the divisions under their control and turn them over to the police stations concerned for the registration of cases under anti-begging laws.

The Punjab government’s Child Protection and Welfare Bureau also aims to rehabilitate children employed in beggary, many of whom end up sniffing glue and go on to engage in other crimes.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2013.