Window screen washers, in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, are frustrating and perturbing citizens by forcing them to stop cars at traffic signals.
During a survey, APP found out that car screen washers never asked motorists whether they wanted their screens washed, and took it on themselves to wash windscreens first and then ask for money.
Ahmad Ali, a motorist at the Express Highway traffic signal, said that car screen washers at traffic signals was a common sight, one could see a lot of children and women thronging vehicles asking for alms.
They use novel techniques to attract people, as their sole purpose is to take money from them.
Another motorist, Mohsin Ali, said, “These guys annoy me. Especially with this new tactic of coming up from behind you and not asking whether you wanted your car touched by them.”
Citizens opined that the use of children in such activities should be banned strictly.
They said that if action to tackle this menace was not taken seriously and on an urgent basis, it would attain alarming proportions over a period of time.
Pointing out that the pestering children were a source of annoyance for people, some traders said that beggars were also affecting their business.
SSP Islamabad traffic police Dr Moeen Masood, while talking to APP, said that Islamabad’s administration, police and traffic police officials had discussed the issue of beggary in the city, and had decided to make joint efforts to rid the city of professional beggars, and rehabilitate needy and deserving women, children and old persons who begged due to poverty.
He further said that more than a dozen NGOs in the twin cities were actively rehabilitating beggars, but there seemed to be no serious efforts on their part to check this menace.
