Citizens urged the concerned authorities on Sunday to control the increasing trend of begging as professional beggars were having a roaring business.
The citizens also urged authorities to give alms to not only to those who deserved but were also not professionals.
Nowadays, groups of beggars, mostly women and children were seen begging in markets, shopping centers, roads and streets of the city. The shopping malls in the town were also amongst the choicest business locations for these beggars. It is said that no ordinary beggar could do business at such sought out locations, because they were covertly auctioned by corrupt elements for large sums of money.
The beggars were seen everywhere, particularly in Rawalpindi.
Several groups of beggars occupied main traffic signals mainly on Benazir Bhutto Road where one can see a lot of children and women thronging vehicles, asking people for alms. The beggars used new techniques to attract people as their sole purpose was to take money from them.
Professional beggary is becoming a social menace as more and more beggars, including physically fit, healthy and young men, women and children were turning towards this profession.
Mostly these were very professional and expert beggars as they have many heart-wrenching stories to tell. They claim they were not professional beggars but were being forced to beg due to some tragedies. These tragedies include serious illness of self, parents or children; workplace accidents and prolonged joblessness due to various reasons.
They often manage to soften the hearts of their listeners with their tragic tales in an emotional voice. Though several drives were launched against professional beggars in the past, but the police had failed to take a serious and visible action against the professional beggars in the town.
Professional beggars were considered a blemish on the face of a civilized society. It is also an indication of weakness of the administration and police to implement the anti-beggary laws. The citizens said that the governments should give serious attention to this issue and launch a massive drive against the professional beggars with the help of police, philanthropists and other social organisations.