The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Schools to serve as night shelter for beggars

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Schools to serve as night shelter for beggars

Staff Reporter

Rehabilitation package proposed

HYDERABAD: Government school buildings are to become temporary night shelters for the homeless beggars. The district administration will launch a drive in the next 15 days to persuade beggars to move into them as part of the proposed rehabilitation package.

The district Collector, Arvind Kumar, said homeless beggars would be put up in school buildings between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would take care of their food and hygiene. In due course, measures would be taken to provide adequate night shelters and destitute homes for the homeless, Mr. Arvind Kumar said.

Survey details

Releasing details of a socio-economic study of beggars, the Collector said a detailed survey was carried out over a period of six months by an NGO, Hyderabad Council of Human Welfare, to identify beggars' profile to pave way for their rehabilitation.

Of 10,466 beggars, who were enumerated in the twin cities, 55.5 per cent were male and 44.1 per cent female. Sixty per cent were homeless.Most vulnerable among them were 175 adolescent girls who were exposed to physical exploitation and sexual abuse. There were 1,302 children below 18 years who should be sent to shelter homes and schools at the earliest, Mr. Arvind Kumar said.

The rehabilitation package would be extended by coordinating with departments like social welfare, women and child welfare, juvenile board, housing, education, police and active NGO groups. An awareness campaign, too, would be taken up to propagate that begging is an offence as per the Andhra Pradesh Prevention of Begging Act, 1977.

The package included sending children to schools, imparting income-generating skills to able bodied as well as physically challenged and providing shelter to the aged. Issuing ration cards, providing housing, and `Annapurna' cards were the other welfare schemes planned considering that a majority of beggars belonged to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes.

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Andhra Pradesh