Can Kejriwal Make Delhi Beggar-Free?

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi, led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, is reported to be working on a plan to remove beggars from the roads of the national capital and provide them shelter. The idea to make the city beggar-free is likely to have twin benefits – while it will prevent harassment of tourists and help improve Delhi's image, the government will work on the social welfare of the destitute and lift their living conditions. The move is seen as a big plus for both tourism and real estate in the city.

The plan

By July-end, Delhi's social welfare department plans to launch a drive under which it will provide shelter to those found begging. “The move is aimed at improving the image of Delhi. With growing tourism, many beggars squat around tourist sites, and there have been several instances of foreign tourists getting harassed by these beggars,” The Hindu quoted a senior government official as saying.

The campaign will be kick-started by Delhi Social Welfare Minister Sandeep Kumar from Delhi's central business district, Connaught Place.

Penal action and rehabilitation

The national capital in 1960 adopted the Bombay Prevention of Beginning Act, 1959, under which begging is an offence and “any person who is found begging can be arrested by any police officer or by any person who is authorised in this behalf”. The Act further states: “When a person is convicted for the second or subsequent time, the court shall order him to be detained for a period of 10 years in a Certified Institution.” The law allows authorities to book offenders for one to three years in Beggar's Homes. To improve their condition, these people are trained to ensure future employment.

Delhi's beggar problem

In the 66 years since Delhi adopted the Bombay Prevention of Beginning Act, the number of beggars in the city has gone up dramatically. According to official data, there are about 75,000 beggars in the national capital at present – that is about 0.5 per cent of the city's total population of 16,787,941 according to the 2011 census.

In the run-up to the Delhi Commonwealth Games, the then Delhi government under Sheila Dikshit had set up two mobile courts in 2009. Seven years on, the number of beggars in Delhi's central business district and other busy and posh areas does not seem to have changed much.

Beggars in posh areas

The number of beggars is high in premium localities because the chances of getting more money in charity are higher here. By building psychological pressure, beggars are able to extract more and more. For instance, if a couple is walking around Connaught Place, they are sure to find beggars only too eager to solicit Gods' blessings for the couple to forever remain happy together. To get rid of the uninvited blessings, one would rather pay.

The economics of beggary

We cannot say that the government's role in dealing with beggary has been passive. From time to time, several measures have been taken to tackle the issue. Then why does the number of beggars in Delhi keep rising? That is perhaps because most beggars in the city earn better than the minimum wages prescribed by the Delhi government.

Sample this: According to a report published on the Zee News website in August 2015, a Delhi University graduate who worked at a BPO and earned Rs 15,000 a month, disguised himself and begged on the streets of the city. The process, video-recorded by Indi Viral, shows that the man earned Rs 200 in two hours. That means an average beggar would make Rs 800 if he works for eight hours a day. Considering he works for 26 days in a month, he should be able to earn Rs 20,800.

Now, that is more than double the minimum wages of Rs 9,568 per month prescribed for unskilled workers by the Delhi government (with effect from April 1, 2016) . In fact, the amount an average beggar earns is also higher than the prescribed minimum wages for semi-skilled (Rs 10,582 per month) and skilled workers (Rs 11,622 per month) – by 97 per cent and 79 per cent, respectively.

So, it comes as no surprise that the successive governments' efforts to rehabilitate beggars have found few takers. Most offenders in the city are old-timers who would rather get back to business than sweat it out in less profitable occupations.

Kejriwal's initiatives

The AAP government under Kejriwal has taken a slew of unique measures to turn Delhi into a world-class city. While the success of some of these initiatives remains to be gauged, most of them have surely attracted the attention of the entire country – while some people have found these methods amusing, others have appreciated them or have been shocked by their novelty.

To decongest the choked roads of the city, for example, the Delhi government took to the odd-even road-rationing formula. The idea had precedence in other countries, but to implement it in a city like Delhi – and to get a fair amount of success – was seen as a big achievement.

Now that the Kejriwal-led government has decided to make Delhi a beggar-free city, all eyes will again be on the success of the plan. How will it pan out? While it remains to be seen if the government gets the success it is eyeing, a beggar-free national capital certainly sounds like a great idea.

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