Over the years multiple Governments have tried to rehabilitate the beggars community but then, most often these professionals go back to begging.
Professional beggars or professional begging in not a new profession in India, in fact this industry also has its own celebrities and star performers.
While on one hand, most of us feel sympathetic towards beggars and at times take pity and wonder why an able bodied person is begging, especially when he or she could work in a white collar environment.
If one does a deep dive into understanding the industry of begging, it will be an eye opener for most people. Begging is similar to other professions and other sectors, but unfortunately there are other dynamics at play due to which rehabilitation schemes are not successful for this sector.
Most beggars do not want to get into a proper job or get rehabilitated, probably because a lot of beggars are substance users which brings them back to the dark alleys and the streets for their daily fix, hence a sheltered program does not suit them.
One one hand the begging industry has its own share of opportunities and challenges, but then, does that mean they should be excluded from the Social Welfare Schemes?
In a recent compilation of All India Financial Support Schemes for Senior Citizens, it was a surprise to see that one State Government has an exclusion criteria for Professional Beggars. To be honest, this raised a few eyebrows.
As per the “Old Age Pension” scheme of West Bengal, professional beggars are excluded from taking financial support from this particular scheme, which sounded rather strange to me (not sure if they qualify under any other schemes).
The general impression about professionals involved with begging is that, these are poor and destitute people hence they are living on the streets, but then, the question is, could the torn clothes, muddy faces be the official dress code or simply a lifestyle option.
I guess the answer is not that simple, simply because education, poverty, employment, health care, social welfare are all inter-linked for which the government can do their part but then the citizens too have to do theirs.
Pankaj Mehrotra
