Hyderabad: Having prohibited begging in public places, Hyderabad city police have started rounding up and moving beggars to shelters.
According to one estimate, there were 13,000 beggars on the city’s roads and not enough space to lodge them all during the two-month prohibition period.
Two ashrams, or shelters, attached to the two prisons in the city already offer refuge to 200-odd beggars, and efforts are being made to send them back to their families on a written assurance that they will not indulge in begging again.
While there were 44 women in shelters at the Cherlapally Central Jail, male beggars have been accommodated at Anand Ashram, located at the Chanchalguda central Jail.
Twenty-nine beggars were moved from Dargah-e-Yousufain a day after the begging ban was issued by the city police commissioner, Mahinder Reddy, in light of upcoming events including the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Delegates attending the event will include Ivanka Trump, daughter of the US President, Donald Trump.
Officials said more beggars will be rounded up in the next few days and they will be accommodated in different places.
The city police is being aided by other government agencies including the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and a non-government organisation to sort the issue.
According to a survey conducted by an NGO, Amma Nanna Ananda Ashram, 13,000 beggars were roaming around in the city and each of them make about Rs300 to Rs400 (Dh16 to Dh22) a day. Most of them are active outside shrines, mosques and temples and busy crossroads. The NGO said in its report that half of those in question were fake beggars, enjoying various sops from the government and pension as well as white ration cards.
