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| Begging in Jammu, a work not compulsion | | | Sanjay Puri | 7/19/2015 11:38:00 PM |
| Despite all efforts made and welfare measures taken
by the state government, the practice of begging contin
ues unabated in Jammu. As per the latest estimates available, Jammu and Kashmir has the lowest percentage of the people living below poverty line and Orissa has the highest percentage of the people living below the poverty line.
Being the city of temples, Jammu is fast becoming the most lovable place of the beggars who mostly comes from the states like Orissa, Bihar, Bengal, U.P, Rajasthan, Gujarat etc along with their families with the hope of getting good alms here. In Jammu, there are numerous kinds of beggars.
These are destitute women, children, blind, crippled or lame persons, lepers etc. Empty spaces under the fly-over, foot paths are the sweet homes of these people and even some have developed colonies in the areas close to the city.
This menace is increasing day by day in the city, perhaps because of its being a large pilgrim destination of the north India.The holy places in Jammu are enormously becoming begging centres where a large number of beggars scattered throughout the premises could be found, some begging alms and others trying to regain sympathy by making emotional appeals. We often see children mutilated and disfigured being subjected to begging. Most of them are from outside the state.
Beggars are ubiquitous in the city. A showroom owner in Raghunath Bazaar said that beggars have become a headache for them. He said that every day more than 100 beggars visit their shops and if they don't pay or object entering shops, they react in revengeful manner. He said that more than 90 percent of these beggars are able bodied but they prefer begging to do any manual work simply because it enables them to earn a handsome amount of money without any trouble.
In Jammu the beggars earn more than a casual labourer. A majority of beggars sees it as a profitable and viable profession. Begging as a livelihood wins over casual labour. Nearly half of the beggars collect between Rs 100 to Rs Rs 150 a day, not much less than a daily wage of a labourer. Some of them even earn between Rs 150 to Rs 500 a day.
In some particular seasons, begging increases in Jammu. During the Amarnath Yatra period and on the eve of different festivals like Eid, Diwali, Shivratri, Gurpurab, Navratras etc the beggars get more alms. In Hindu philosophy, there are different days which are meant for specific God and Goddess, they catch up with myth also like carrying a photograph of Mata Durga and lord Hanuman on Tuesday, carrying idol of lord Shiva on Monday and there are so many who can be seen coming door to door especially on Saturday carrying an idol of 'Shani Dev' to beg alms, making hefty bucks. Worsening the problem further, beggars are joined by equal number of street vendors, selling various items, running across the roads.
As soon as vehicle slows down, vendor compete with one another to reach the car first, mostly indifferent to the speedy vehicles. The profession of begging has become so much lucrative that organized gangs have begun to exercise control over the earning of these beggars. Some beg in the name of donations with or without proper receipts for different purposes while others beg simply to earn their living. According to sources many of the kingpins of these beggars have amassed so much wealth that they have started lending money on interest. This a awesome picture of our state where no license is needed to start this business.
In our society, we think it is our duty to help the less fortunate. In this way, we encourage begging which is counterproductive to social and economic progress.
The ever increasing flow of these beggars into Jammu city can prove nothing short of bombshell in the time to come as these beggars can also be exploited by the antisocial elements for some terror activities.
There exist beggar mafias and gangs. They abduct children, cut off their limbs and blind them so that they can evoke pity and get alms. They train children and then employ them for begging. The government must take strict action against these criminals, because they ruin the future of the children of our society. Indeed, it is the duty of every citizen to duly draw the attention of authorities to any suspicion of caretakers exploiting the helplessness of their wards.
Every adult member of the society, directly or indirectly concerned, has a social responsibility to protect children, particularly the weak. Sometimes, criminals when they are released from prison are not treated sympathetically by our society and do not have any other option, but to become beggars. There should be some programs to rehabilitate them. Leading a respectable life is the right of every human being. Counseling the beggars on the importance of basic human traits like self-esteem or self respect may motivate them to give up begging. Imparting vocational education and creating employment opportunities for these people only can solve this problem.
(The author is senior Journalist. Feedback welcome at [email protected]) |
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