Cleaning up: Crackdown against beggars to begin

Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui cites reason that beggars pose threat to lives and property of citizens.

KARACHI: Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui has announced a crackdown against beggars, citing the reason that beggars pose a threat to the lives and property of citizens. Siddiqui made the announcement while addressing a meeting at his office on Thursday. Auqaf and religious affairs additional secretary Akhter Hussain Bugti, social welfare department director Nuzhat Fatima attended the meeting. According to the commissioner, the sudden arrival of a large number of beggars in Karachi was a matter of great concern. More beggars are expected to throng to the city on the eve of Eid, therefore, immediate steps would need to be taken to control the influx, said Siddiqui. The commissioner announced the setting up of a seven-member task force to implement the anti-beggary law, rehabilitate professional beggars, arrange temporary shelters for them and send them back to their hometowns.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2014.