A poor person hardly exists and can only lay claim, modestly, to ‘poor’ rights. As for the extremely poor, they do not exist at all. All they can benefit from is an act of generosity. Even the help they receive is, in most cases, a token of exclusion from a society that makes them feel guilty. The article is in response to the various talks on beggars as a cause for nuisance in different public places and specifically Kashmir. The complains regarding the nuisance created by the beggars at various public places in Kashmir are rife. And it had been suggested that something must be done for the same. Now before looking for a solution to ameliorate the nuisance created by the beggars in Kashmir it is important to look into other various states and countries which have taken a back seat from the same. In India there has been a preventive law for beggary in almost every metropolitan city. The examples being, The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959 which was later extended to Delhi in 1960. Subsequently the Karnataka Prevention of Begging Act 1975 came into effect and which was followed by the A.P Prevention of Begging Act 1977.  The A.P Prevention of Begging Act was never implemented until 2006. The same applies to many foreign countries, example being Finland and UK and many other European countries. A dispassionate analysis of all these acts will reveal that, instead of providing some relief, they have only worsened the state of affairs for these poor people. Besides they have been a great burden to shoulder for government officials.

Technically all the Acts have the same principle, which is criminalization of the beggars and their rehabilitation. Also the Acts promise the beggars welfare homes where they would be given accommodation and training to eke out a living for themselves, but ironically nothing has come out of these Acts except for chaos and exploitation. The example for the same could be cited through various case laws. The most important ones being the Ram Lakhan v. State  and Manjula Sen v state of Maharashtra. In both of the cases innocent people have been caught up by the police officials mistaking them for beggars operated by some gang. The persons apprehended had to undergo trails which lasted for years. And there are many such cases in India where people have been arrested and put to trails for no reason. In India there are thousands of beggars in the custodies just because they cannot pay the fine which they are imposed on. Taking these things into consideration Kashmir is one of the fortunate states where such things seldom happen. Therefore before going by the trifling inconveniences caused by the beggars it is important to realize that at the end of the day it is a question of someone’s survival. And the inconvenience caused due to the same should be seen subservient to their lives.

Lastly how much do they even ask for? And how many of us even give them what they ask for?  The idea of amelioration of the poor is appreciated but do we trust the officials by giving them the responsibility to decide the fate of these poor people. Are laws really implemented? Therefore until and unless we have an alternative which can assure accountability, we have to help these people bitten by the bug of poverty. Where shall they go?

(Mustafa Haji is a student  of BA. LLB 3rd Year, NALSAR University Of Law Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh)

Lastupdate on : Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
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