So it seems that the capital city Thiruvananthapuram of (so-called) God’s own country Kerala, has banned ‘begging’ activity and the ones found guilty will be sent to a special rehabilitation centre set up by the Municipal Corporation.
An order to this effect was issued by the district collector on Wednesday.
Surely this move will get a lot of flak from different sectors across the country in the coming days. But the million dollar question here is whether this law will actually make any difference?
I guess if applied strictly it might just work considering the fact that the population of this city is much lesser than central hubs like Mumbai, Delhi, etc. However being well-aware of increased presence of corruption in Indian cities, official’s in-charge could also use this newly-imposed law for exploitation purpose.
But I get a strong feeling that this new rule won’t get the opportunity to stand the test of time.
Comments
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Abhishek Pandey
Jun 17th, 2006 at 7:42 pm | #
Isn’t it a shame that the government, instead of being able to provide “Roti, Kapda aur Makaan” (Food, Clothes and Shelter), is making these oppressive and stupid rules. How can a govt justify such rules when it has no job for a huge number of youths, no health care for its people, no hopes for farmers who are repeatedly committing suicide. Even water, we have to buy and drink from the market. Shame on such government.
I know, you will say, but these beggers are annoyning, they don’t want to work, they earn enough from the begging. In fact I have heard that a begger’s family in Mumbai even owns a flat and is well-off but still they beg, for they make enough money by begging which they will otherwise fail to make.
Having said all that, I still strongly feel that it is a complete failure on the part of the state, that they have reached this situation and now for worse, making such laws. Don’t we all know what will happen in those so called rehabilitation centres. It does not take a genius to understand that if such rehabiltation centres are being made by the government, they will just make the situation of these beggers worse. They will probably have to work much more and live like animals. Who does not know the situation of government run orphanges, jails for juvenile criminals and other such rehabilitation centers.
Yes, we can not let them continue begging forever and their condition must improve, but the solution does not lie in making such oppressive rules and laws, rather it calls for a root-cause analysis, strong political will and some really genuine work.
God bless beggers of God’s own country…
Abhishek