Patna: The state government in Bihar has launched an ambitious project to free the state from beggars who are often seen sitting near the railway stations, bus stops, outside religious places and seeking alms from visitors.
“We are preparing a database of beggars. Soon after this process is completed, they will not only be provided employment but also shelter,” social welfare minister Ashok Chaudhary told the media on Sunday. According to him, beggars will also be provided financial help to run their own business.
Under part of this plan, the beggars are being given the choice of a respectable profession. They are being asked if they want to become entrepreneurs or work as publicity managers for government-run schemes. So far, 18 beggars have been provided the financial support to run their own business. Each one was given the financial support of Rs10,000. However, the number of beggars showing interest in running business activities is very few.
The project has been currently started in 12 districts of the state, such as Patna, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Saran, Araria, Vaishal, Gaya, Nalanda, Bhagalpur, Rohtas, Purnia, Katihar and Araria. Of them, the authorities have announced to free Patna from beggar by March next year.
An official working with this plan said they had identified 2,200 beggars in Patna but many of them don’t want to quit begging. “We were able to convince some of them to start life afresh but some have become so used to this kind of living that they don’t want to switch to other jobs,” an official Randhir Kumar working with this project told the media on Sunday.
One of the reasons could be that quite a handful of beggars have been found earning millions by begging. Recently, a beggar identified as Pappu Kumar from Patna was found having property worth over Rs12 million. Apart from this, he also had around 500,000 cash stashed in four nationalized banks.
Millionaire beggar
The rag-to-riches story of this millionaire beggar came to light when the police took him under custody for refusing to leave the Patna railway junction which has been his permanent shelter place for the past seven years. During the course of his physical search, the police recovered four ATM cards of four banks—Bank of Baroda, Allahabad Bank, State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank.
A further investigation into this later found that he had currently around Rs 500,000 stored in these four banks.
Crowds of beggars seeking alms from visitors are normal sights outside the religious sites, railway stations and bus stops in Bihar. Many are even seen taking shelters under the open sky outside the railway stations braving the chilly wintry nights in the absence of shelter homes.
The total number of beggars in Bihar is 29,723, according to a written reply given to the Lok Sabha by federal Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot in March 2018.
