NGO to launch campaign against beggars using infants

During peak hour every day in the traffic-choked lanes of RTC Complex, a woman with an infant slung across her shoulders knocks on car windows to beg. The sight of the infant creates sympathy among the passengers.

A couple of hours later, the woman takes a break under the flyover, while the infant is passed on to another woman, who continues to roam around the streets, begging under the hot sun. A survey by city-based social service organisation Generation Yuvaa has brought to light a startling practice by a group of 55 women from three slums in the city, who are using infants to panhandle.

Generation Yuvaa has identified slums in ASR Nagar, Tagarapuvalasa and Gajuwaka, from where the women originate and beg with infants. Shockingly, in most cases, the infants are not related to the woman, but are used to garner sympathy.

Generation Yuvaa, that runs a rehabilitation home in the city for child beggars and children from families of professional beggars, has now planned to step up its campaign against child begging with the support of the police department and the district administration.

“While the number of women beggars has come down from 150 in 2016 to 55, these women are repeat offenders. Despite our efforts to counsel them, the group keeps spreading across different junctions in the city carrying infants, some of whom are days’ old,” B. Naresh Kumar, founder-president of Generation Yuvaa told The Hindu.

The team has approached the District Child Protection Unit, the Child Welfare Committee and the Police Department to kick-start an awareness campaign highlighting this issue. Incidentally, using infants to panhandle is a punishable offence.

Article 76 of Juvenile Justice Act states that whoever employs or uses any child for the purpose of begging or causes any child to beg shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and shall also be liable to fine of ₹1 lakh.

Awareness campaign

The NGO will first reach out to the three slums and conduct awareness campaigns to prevent the women from begging on streets with infants. In the next phase, posters will be put up across major junctions in the city to sensitise people and help them report such instances to the police or the NGO.

“More than a necessity, the menace of begging is a mindset problem for these people. When the women use infants to panhandle, they easily get up to ₹1,000 a day. It is easy money for them. The infants are made to endure the harsh sun without a minute’s respite,” said Mr. Kumar.

K. Fakeerappa, DCP (Law and Order) said: “Stringent action will be taken against repeat offenders as per the law. Placards and banners will be put up across the city junctions to give out a strong message for the public to not encourage these women.”

Control room visuals will be used to send alerts to the NGO when any women with infants are spotted begging on the streets.

To root out begging from the city streets, the team of Generation Yuvaa has offered to provide employment to women beggars.