In an attempt to make Hyderabad beggar-free city, 300 vagrants given education, employment

Hyderabad started its beggar-free drive in October 2017 and till now at least 9,000 beggars have been picked up by the state prisons department.

Hyderabad, July 23: If all goes well, Hyderabad is likely to become a beggar-free city soon. It is a huge task nonetheless the authorities are going in the right direction to make the city free from beggars.

Begging is a reality in India as many poor, disabled, elderly, women and children are forced into seeking alms. Begging is a crime in various parts of the country and if officials catch someone begging he/she is arrested.

"In India, there is no central law which penalises begging. Although, 22 states (including few Union Territories) have their anti-begging laws. The Act which functions as the derivative figure for all the state anti-begging law is Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959. States which have their own anti-begging laws are attached in Annex 1," stated an article by iPleaders.

As laws are grey and poverty is pushing thousands into begging, thus the whole process of rehabilitating the beggars has never been implemented properly.

Nonetheless, Hyderabad seems to have achieved some amount of success in this direction. The city started its beggar-free drive in October 2017 and till now at least 9,000 beggars have been picked up by the state prisons department, stated a report by ANI.

Out of the 9,000, 300 beggars have been sent to rehabilitation centres where they are given education and provided employment opportunities, added the report.

IG Telangana Prisons Department A Narsimah told ANI, "We want to implement the drive in the entire state."

"We are organising different programmes for the beggars including education programme. We are also providing employment to the beggars who are able or are physically fit. It's not a prison but is more like a rehabilitation centre. After picking up beggars, if they want to go back to their homes, we call their relatives and then counsel them and we release them. The drive will continue in the city," he added.

The senior official informed that as a part of the beggar-free city drive, the authorities have arranged two rehabilitation centres for the vagrants. "One is at Chanchal Prison for male beggars and another is at Charlapalli Prison for female beggars," he added.