Despite the State having a ban imposed on begging by way of Uttar Pradesh Beggary Prevention Act, the practice is continuing unabated in the State.
It is easy to spot elderly people begging for alms while trying to tickle the religious sentiments of the people they approach. Some of them are found holding little babies in their laps to arouse pity in the people they appeal to for alms. Some of the children found begging are forcing the pedestrians to buy balloons.
When this correspondent asked a woman found begging near Rispana about how many of her family members take to begging she said gravely, “All of us.”
As the correspondent asked Ajay Uniyal, a passer- by, about the practice of begging, he said that it is a sad spectacle of children and the elderly people begging in the streets. “I am daily witnessing these kids running towards my car when I take my children back home from school. They clean the mirror of the car and ask for money. Some of them try to force us to take balloons. I refuse and instead given these unfortunate kids some food. The sight is painful. The government should step in to help them out of this curse of begging,” he said.When queried over the plight of these kids, Yogendra Khanduri, chairperson, Uttarakhand Commission of Child Protection, said that he had sent advisory to the chief secretary, asking for measures to stop the practice. While asking the government to do something on the matter, he appealed to the NGOs to care a bit more for these wretched children.
SP City Pradeep Roy said they are not authorised to undertake a survey of these kids. “However, we are trying to rehabilitate some of them. We also try to motivate them to study,” he added.