If everything goes as planned, the temple city Bhubaneswar would be beggar-free soon. After ensuring shelter to homeless and destitute, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to rehabilitate beggars. As directed by BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary, measures would be taken to identify the beggars, shift them to shelter homes and make them self-reliant as per their abilities through various schemes.
The civic body would open a rehabilitation centre under the jurisdiction of each of its three regional offices and each centre would have 100 beds. The centres would be operated by professional agencies. Tender has already been floated for the project, BMC sources said. The centre would accommodate people of all groups, including senior citizens, women, children and differently-abled. After the guidelines were approved by the State Government, the BMC has invited Expression of Interest (EOI) for the purpose, said BMC Deputy Commissioner Kamalakant Behera.
Recently, some beggars from the Ram Mandir area were accommodated in various shelter homes. Besides, several homeless labourers, who used to sleep under open sky even on cold winter nights, have also been lodged in various shelter homes.