Beggars can’t be choosers, but they adapt & relocate to survive

The district administration may have succeeded in getting major intersections free from child begging, but the fact remains that many child beggars may have outsmarted the authorities by changing their location. They’ve relocated themselves away from junctions to spots that are usually out of the enforcing agency’s eye.

A reality check performed by photojournalists and a scribe of this daily revealed that many of the beggars had moved out of the busy Hazratganj, Polytechnic, IGP, Lal Batti and Charbagh Crossings to Burlington Crossing, and outside prominent tea stalls and eateries in Gomti Nagar, Lalbagh and Aminabad.

Apart from children made to beg, even transgender beggars often harass commuters near Bangla Bazar Crossing on Old VIP Road. They knock hard on car windowpanes and inconvenience people commuting on two-wheelers. Most of the time, cops on duty turn a blind eye to such harassment.

Mayank Gupta, who frequently travels to the state capital from Barabanki for business, often drives to Madhurima Sweets on Shri Ram Road for breakfast. “To my surprise, I now observe a lot many people begging near the restaurant and harassing customers.”

“I recently visited Nukkad Tea Stall, which is opposite a mall in Vibhuti Khand, and found many child beggars there. Out of frustration, customers ended up giving them their ‘bun makkhan’ (butter bun) and tea,” said Gaurav, who works as a software engineer and is visiting the city.

District magistrate Vishak G said, “We are aware of this development. For instance, Charbagh is a huge area. We need more teams to tackle this complex issue. We are not saying that we will clean beggary from the city. Our job is to rehabilitate the children who beg. We are trying to enroll these children in government-run schools. We have facilitated some of these kids to appear in the entrance exam for Atal residential schools.” “Also, we are trying to help the adults get work as building and construction workers. The training of the first batch of beggars to rehabilitate them was done at Faizullah Ganj,” the DM observed.

Amid efforts to free the state capital from child begging, the DM noted that efforts were underway to connect beggars with the mainstream of society. He said that monitoring would be ensured in areas from where complaints of beggars were often received.

“If children are found begging or selling goods at a traffic signal, they should be identified and traced. After counselling their families, efforts should be made to connect them with the mainstream of society by providing them with the benefits of government welfare schemes.