Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Begging menace on the increase

Street children are vulnerable to wanton cruelty, writes G. Anand

Enforcing the ban on begging has become an uphill task for the police. The police are finding it difficult to clear the streets of the aged, diseased and mentally challenged people who comprise the bulk of alms-seekers in the city.

The ban on begging was imposed in 2003 in accordance with the section (3) of the Travancore Begging (Prevention) Act, 1945.

The city police was vested with the power to impose the ban. Earlier, in the absence of any law to prevent begging, the police used to pick up alms-seekers camping on the pavements and drop them outside city limits in police buses. However, such measures had come under severe criticism from human rights organisations. The city is becoming a second home for migrant groups from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The groups often camp on city pavements, road-sides and on the campuses of educational institutions that have closed for the summer vacation. The menfolk of such groups stay behind to tend the camps while their women and children scour the city seeking alms. A police officials said there was a need to distinguish between those who are in genuine need of help and the others who have made a lucrative profession out of begging. Migrant group of alms-seekers consist mostly of minors and women who are healthy.

Such groups often make a living by pestering citizens into parting with a portion of their money. Foreign tourists are a favourite target of such `professional' alms-seekers.

The groups station themselves mainly near shopping complexes, hotels and commercial areas of the city. The sick and the ailing, who are genuine candidates for charity, are often pushed out of competition by well-organised groups of alms-seekers. Several petty crimes such as pickpocketing and housebreaking have been traced back to members of such groups, the police said.

Street children, who form a sizable segment of alms-seekers in city, are vulnerable to wanton cruelty, sexual exploitation and drug abuse. A majority of the street children are hooked to chemical solvents such as petrol, liquid shoe-polish and adhesives that contain addictive substances.

Inhalation of petrol fumes is a common addiction seen among the street children.

The street children procure shoe-polish, thinner and adhesives which contain turpentine from shops and inhale them to get a high.

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