The Hindu : Alms-free zone mooted

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 28, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Kochi

Alms-free zone mooted

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI DEC. 27. Efforts are on to rehabilitate beggars in Kochi as part of the scheme visualised by the authorities to make the city a beggar-free zone. A scheme launched by the Don Bosco rehabilitation centre, in association with the police, Cochin Corporation and other service organisations, is regarded as a model for other cities to emulate.

The centre has volunteers who approach street urchins and give guidance and counselling to become members of the centre. Often, it is difficult to convince street urchins as they might not have even thought of leading a normal life. But once they start moving in the right direction, it is a matter of time before they join the mainstream of life.

The Don Bosco centre has about 30 inhabitants, several of whom had the habit of roaming the streets with begging bowls in their hands. And, there were also a few who had indulged in criminal activities such as pick pocketing. Now they do odd jobs during daytime and reach the centre for shelter in the night. Meals are provided to them at a nominal cost. The subsidy is possible due to the contribution that the centre gets from various agencies interested in charity work.

Many of the inmates of the rehabilitation centre hail from Tamil Nadu and other States. While a few of them had run away from their homes owing to a variety of reasons, there were others who had been pushed to the begging `profession' by their parents or relatives as it used to fetch `good returns'. There have been cases of restoring the vagabonds to their parents, according to Verghese, a social activist, who heads a team of counsellors and workers at the rehabilitation centre.

The centre has launched a campaign against giving alms to child beggars. "Every time a coin is given to the begging child on the street, the money is, in effect, contributing to the destruction of its childhood,'' Mr.Verghese says. A child growing under such conditions would become an anti-social in future, creating problems to the entire society. Hence, the `anti-alms race' would be the right answer for bringing up a responsible younger generation, he says. It is the responsibility of the government, service organisations as well as the people at large to save the child from the menace of begging, according to him.

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