Groups of beggars, mostly comprising of women and children, are frequently seen begging in markets, shopping centres, on roads and on the streets of Hyderabad, thus causing nuisance for the dwellers as well as for the commuters. Their number is witnessing a rise in the city.
These wandering vagrants played with the sentiments of people visiting the shopping areas or passing by the roads and streets by claiming that they were not professional beggars, but were forced to beg due to some personal tragedies, including serious illness or physical disability, and hence the inability to earn. Prolonged joblessness was also widely used.
Several campaigns have been launched from time to time in the name of curbing beggary but the police and authorities concerned have been unsuccessful in eliminating the menace.
It was a reflection of weakness of the departments concerned to implement the anti-beggary laws.
While professional beggary was considered a blemish on the face of a civilised society, no substantive strategy appeared to be forthcoming to rid this city of the hordes of beggars.
Though different non-government organisations and other institutions have been working for the rehabilitation of beggars to eradicate this menace from the society, however any positive results in this direction was still far from being achieved.
According to people frequently coming across the beggars, these beggars have started applying new tactics to draw the attention of the people for the purpose of getting money. They said that beggars were now asking for charity in the name of religion.
The habit of begging appeared to have converted into a “profitable business” as mostly the general public believed that inability of the authorities concerned to control beggars reflected that there was a strong mafia which was managing these beggars, said a resident of the Commercial Market of Cantonment area.
Meanwhile, groups of women with crying infants, young men with bandaged arms, middle-aged disabled men, barefoot children, eunuchs and others were seen selling low-quality products in different bazaars of the city.
These beggars sometimes created awkward situations by holding the arm of people and forcing them to give money. When someone refused to give them money, they even used offensive or abusive language, said a shopkeeper.
People belonging to different walks of life have urged that the government should give serious attention to this issue and launch a massive drive against professional beggars with the help of police, philanthropists and social organisations, besides involving the community in a bid to make the drive successful and result-oriented.
They said that owing to these professional beggars people did not give money to the really deserving persons, adding that the authorities concerned should take strict action against professional beggars and impose fines on them in order to curb the menace once and for all.
They further said that begging should be banned in the country by adopting proper legislation, adding that legislation must be enacted to put an end to this profession. However, deserving cases should be helped and others should be given employment as well.
Number of beggars on the rise in Hyderabad
