The ‘Advisory for the Protection and Rehabilitation of Impoverished, Uneducated Children, Women, and Differently-abled Individuals Engaged in Begging’ identifies eight key areas for action by Centre and State governments and UT administrations.
- As per the 2011 census, there were more than 413 thousand beggars and vagrants in India.
Key Action Areas
- Survey, identification, Mapping and preparing Data Bank for building a national database.
- Rehabilitation of individuals engaged in beggary through Shelter homes, education, and necessary assistance.
- Healthcare: Mental health care, de-addiction and healthcare services in shelter homes.
- Education: Early childhood care (Article 45) and Free and compulsory education (Article 21A).
- Drafting a National Policy for the protection and rehabilitation of individuals involved in beggary and decriminalising begging.
- Collaboration with NGOs, civil society organisations, private sector, charitable trusts for skill training programmes.
- Access to financial services through Self-help Groups (SHGs).
- Awareness generation, sensitization and monitoring.
Issues associated with Beggary
- Beggary is a socio-economic issue caused by poverty, lack of education, and limited employment opportunities.
- As a result of societal neglect, physically challenged individuals have to depend on others for survival and daily sustenance.
- Systemic deficiencies and structural inequalities perpetuate poverty.
- Organized groups often manipulate vulnerable children into begging.
Constitutional Provisions
Government Initiatives
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