Why beggars

My health, my hygiene had totally gone. I used day-to-day and I used to keep my survival. My survival out there, my coping mechanism was drink and drugs and it took me to a place I didn't expect to go. Jerry said he used to wake up every morning "wanting to die". Homeless charity Crisis said the rise in homelessness was due to the shortage of housing and ongoing effects of the economic recession combined with government policies.

It said those who beg were often struggling with "extreme poverty" but the decision on whether to hand over money was a "personal" choice.

A charity spokesman said: "Whether or not people give money to beggars is a personal decision, but we know from our own clients how important a simple act of kindness can be to those in desperate circumstances. Nevertheless, people who do beg are often some of the most vulnerable in our society, and many will be struggling with extreme poverty. Both charities say that the public can help the homeless without giving over money to those begging.

They say making a donation to a homeless charity, engaging rough sleepers in conversation or volunteering time are other ways of providing support. Trade Ministry sets new prices for potatoes. Basketball: Mukama to make debut for Rwanda. Central bank: Financial sector to remain stable. Fear of missing out? Subscribe now to. Report calls for affordable insulin access for diabetics 9h.

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Lock people up and fine people with no money. What do the police think they are going to do when they come back on to the streets? There is an industry worth hundreds of millions of pounds, made up of charities and public bodies that is very keen for you to give money to them and not the people in need.

Everywhere I went people spoke about the so-called professional beggars who drove BMWs. In Cambridge, a police sergeant told me he felt his role was to make life as uncomfortable as possible for beggars. Luke, a homeless man I met there, a former chef, is now an addict with mental health issues. The sergeant had little sympathy. Other able bodied beggars be taken to task and punished and later counselled to start work.

Job opportunities should also be created for such people. The administration should arrange for shelters for the handicapped and aged beggars.

Local residents should make it a point not to give them money. Having failed to eradicate beggary while spending crores on making Chandigarh a smart city, the administration looks to be trying to find the legal way out to evade responsibility when it comes to removing beggars from the streets. The number of people left to fend themselves on the streets have increased recently due to joblessness after the Covid outbreak.

Most of them cannot even afford one square meal a day. In an effort reach out to all such people volunteers of our Humble To Be Chandigarhian, a socially conscious group, has started distributing face masks to people who have no money to buy them in slum colonies and at conspicuous places such as the Housing Board Chowk.

Yes, we are not at the Sukhna Lake as advocated by the adviser to the UT administrator, where the visitors hardly need a free mask and generally throw these within the precincts of the lake area. Even among Muslims, you have Zakat. The beggars perform no useful social function, and hence they are a burden on society. The superstitions and the orthodox mindset of our citizens, that giving to a beggar is charity, have to change.

The main factors that lead to begging, such as unemployment, underemployment, landlessness, poverty, calamity, famines and destitution should be addressed. One solution is to set up penal labour colonies, where psychiatrist treatment, skill enhancement and basic education, medical facilities, recreation and nutritious food should be provided to beggars. A total ban at railway stations and bus stands should be enforced.

Identify people on the streets, hospitalise the ill and the infirm; get children to schools and let the able bodied be given skills training and employment opportunities. Share Via. Hospitalise the ill and the infirm 2. Identify children who beg and send them to school 3.

SK Khosla, Chandigarh The dispensation needs to walk the extra mile to efficaciously deal with the menace of begging, especially in the new normal situation triggered by the ongoing battle against the Covid pandemic. Ramesh K Dhiman, Chandigarh Begging has become a common problem in the tricity.

The following steps can help eradicate it: - Compulsory and aided ie free education for children forced to beg, till Class Rajinder Preet Kaur, Rajpura Practice of begging is rampant, especially in metros and urban areas despite laws and measures adopted by state and Central agencies to curb it.

Anil Vinayak, Amritsar One is overwhelmed with sadness in these times of Covid to see people with small children and carrying babies in their arms, begging at street junctions and streets.

Col TBS Bedi retd , Mohali The beggars of the city can easily be resettled if the administration shows some intent and decides to use its existing available resources.

Gurnoor Grewal, Chandigarh First of all it is really important to know what begging really means. Ishita Nara The main concern of a person who begs is to make enough money for four square meals a day.

Abhilasha Gupta, Mohali Begging is a full time profession for many Indians but in a pandemic situation it can be a source of transmission. Avinash Goyal, Chandigarh Beggary is deeply rooted in Indian society. Manoj Malik, Chandigarh Begging is a social blot and both a humanitarian and law and order issue and warrants a two-pronged resolution with a timebound road map. Lalit Bharadwaj, Panchkula Of course we have the Haryana Prevention of Beggary Act to nab the beggars and put them behind bars, but that is not the answer.