Overview of Begging in India

Written by: Sanjay Sarmah

At present, in India there are over 4 lakh beggars (Census 2011); most of them can be found on streets, railway platforms, tourist spots, and religious places, among others. These individuals subsist on the bare minimum, without a roof over their heads or a daily source of food, and go through an undignified life. Such conditions of living, as per Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, violate their most basic fundamental right, that is their right to life, which entails not only survival but being able to live a complete life of dignity and meaning.

Yet most beggars are almost always treated and viewed poorly by the public and government officers alike. This raises the question of what the ground reality of the beggar problem in India looks like? Whether the government of India has taken cognizance of this issue or not? And what can we as individuals do to address this issue?

Begging is a widespread problem in India, and it affects a wide section of individuals like children, women, old people, transgenders, and people with disabilities who are prone to exploitation, sexual abuse, and human trafficking.

Despite numerous schemes, programmes and policy changes the ground reality remains and often these group of individuals are rendered helpless due to their socio-economic state and lack of welfare intervention from the state.

Ever since the pandemic the Indian government has taken up the issue of beggars with great concern. Yet, the apathetic outlook that beggars face continues to put them at a disadvantage, and unless they are empowered by the State under various constitutional provisions through proper enforcement and monitoring of schemes and policies, they along with the development of the country will continue to suffer.

Beggars face multi-dimensional problems and hence to understand the root causes of these issues we must look at it through different perspectives.

Economic perspectives on begging in India

India has a large population of people living below the poverty line, which means that many people struggle to meet their basic needs, such as food, shelter, and healthcare. The rising levels of inflation and unemployment post-pandemic has further exacerbated the problem and has forced many people to resort to begging as a means of survival.

Begging in India can be attributed to various economic factors. Some key economic factors among them are the unavailability of economic opportunities due to poverty, lack of access to education or skills, lack of social safety nets and social exclusion from mainstream society.

Additionally, the issue of lack of access to education and employment opportunities can fuel the poverty-cycle, thus create inter-generational dependence on begging as a means of survival.

Social perspectives on begging in India

Begging is too deep-rooted in Indian society, and the main causes must first be addressed. From a social perspective, most parts of begging are unfortunately sanctioned by religion in India in the name of noble acts. People at worship places unknowingly incentivise acts of begging by providing beggars with alms. It must be made clear here that while such acts have good intentions behind, they mostly have a negative impact as these beggars gather at such places and make the act of mendicancy their mode of living.

Another major issue is regarding the public perception both that of “concern” and “neglect”. The public perception of “concern” towards these individuals leads us to donate alms or money whenever we see them by the roadsides, however, studies and investigations by research centres and NGOs have found that in most parts across India, beggars are associated with begging cartels. Wherein each group has its own leader and functions within its own territory. They force young women, children and sometimes even drug babies to gain sympathy from the public to receive alms. And at the day end, these group leaders share the earned money from them among themselves.

On the other hand, these beggars that we neglect and walk past, often fall prey to human traffickers who sell them to prostitution brothels or force them into labour in factories. Thus, there is a serious need to raise alertness and awareness among the public regarding these vulnerable sections and work with civil societies to provide them better livelihoods, care, access to essential services and economic opportunities through capacity building programs and schemes.

Legal and policy frameworks

The subject of begging has not been mentioned explicitly in the Indian Constitution, however as per the 9th entry of the State list in the Seventh Schedule – “Relief of the disabled and unemployable” has been described as the state subject. Similarly, entry 15 of the Concurrent List mentions about “Vagrancy”.

Various provisions under the Indian Constitution such as Article 41 of Directive Principles of State policy guides the state to carry out welfare measures in its own capacity. Likewise, Article 23 of the constitution provides prohibition of human trafficking and forced labour.

Also, section 363-A of the Indian Penal Code treats acts of kidnapping, or maiming individuals for the purpose of forcing them into acts of begging as an offence. Anti-begging acts across states also seek to curb this practice, however, it has come under criticism by the Supreme Court of India due to cases of arbitrary nature of detention of these poor individuals by police which the court claims to be in violation of Article 14 and Article 21.

In terms of policies and schemes, previous governments have worked out various measures to address different aspects of the begging problem such as poverty alleviation, rehabilitation, and care through National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM), Swadhar Greh Scheme, Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) and National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) among others.

However, the impact of these schemes and policies has been mostly limited due to overlapping of schemes, limited coverage, lack of proper implementation and oversight and lack of awareness among various other reasons.

In this context, Ministry of Social Justice at present is working to implement the Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE Scheme) at a wider scale which seeks to provide welfare measures for transgender persons and persons who are engaged in the acts of begging with a comprehensive focus on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, education, skill and capacity building, economic linkages etc. If the efforts are successful, it would immensely help India in achieving its target to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Begging in India: Way forward

To address the issue of beggars in India multi-level engagements are required.  At government level, long-term poverty alleviation programmes must be implemented effectively by identifying targeted population, reducing overlapping schemes, creating monitoring systems to ensure rehabilitation and shelter homes are properly built on time. Lowering cost of essential goods for these groups through public-private partnerships by utilising CSR funds is also a possible alternative.

On the other hand, citizens can help these vulnerable groups in their own capacity by not directly donating money as doing so promotes the very problem we disapprove of. Likewise, participating in NGOs as volunteers, spreading awareness to change apathetic public perception towards the problem and holding the government and authorities accountable can make a significant long-term impact.

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