Efforts taken by the local administration to rehabilitate beggars in Kishoreganj Upazila (UZ) of Nilphamari district have paid dividend. The upazila in the northern region of the country is now free from beggars. Nearly 1000 beggars of the upazila have been rehabilitated so far. This newspaper in a report published on November 23 said that the initiative, taken for the first time, in an upazila out of a total of 488 UZs, has been acclaimed by many.
The Nilphamari-based correspondent of The Financial Express reported that a team of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) visited the beggar-free upazila to see for themselves the rehabilitation of beggars. The members of the JICA team lauded the initiative of the local administration and expressed their willingness to support the venture.
The members of the JICA team during their visit to the upazila talked to the beggars who have given up alms-seeking from door to door. Each of them, the FE report says, is now earning Taka 250 to Taka 300 per day. Under the rehabilitation programme, they are rearing Black Bengal goats, running small scale business, tailoring shops etc.
Our correspondent interviewed a 35-year old village woman, Kalpana Begum who said that after separation from her husband she had no other option but to take recourse to begging. Kalpana is now employed in a local husking mill and earns Taka 250 per day.
This initiative to eradicate the in dignified profession of begging in Kishoreganj upazila has undoubtedly set an example for other upazila administrators to emulate. In this way the whole country may one day get rid of the curse of begging.
We know efforts so far taken by the relevant government agencies and voluntary organisations to rehabilitate beggars in Dhaka city have failed to make headway. Moreover, large amount of public money has been wasted in the process.
About two years ago, the parliamentary standing committee on social welfare ministry had expressed its dismay at the irregularities in expenditure of about Tk 70 million allocated by the government to implement a project for rehabilitation of city's beggars and generating employment opportunities for them.
The ministry of social welfare, as we reported in this column, had earlier conducted a survey in different parts of the metropolis and prepared a database along with beggars' pictures and code numbers to ensure their proper rehabilitation.
The ministry authorised 10 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to conduct the study under four categories - autistic, women and children, seasonal and professional. The government steps aimed at keeping city streets free from professional beggars through their rehabilitation.
Unveiling government plan, an official had said that the beggars who were physically fit for work could be provided with mobile shops, rickshaws, vans, sewing machines and funds to undertake small business. They will undergo motivational training so that their confidence is restored in maintaining livelihood with dignity as self-reliant citizens.
The government initially planned to rehabilitate 10 thousand beggars of Dhaka city and two thousand others in their own village homes. The study on the street beggars reveals that the number of beggars from the districts of Mymensingh, Barisal, Jamalpur and Dhaka are higher in the city than those from erosion-hit areas of north-western region.
Keeping city roads free from beggars is indeed a formidable task. Invariably, the beggars return to their "jobs" shortly after the crackdown ends. Such government steps to remove beggars from the city are not new. All successive governments in the past tried in vain to stop begging on the city streets.
During the rule of former president HM Ershad, a large number of beggars were sent to rehabilitation centres at Duttapara in Tongi on the outskirts of Dhaka city. But the centres for beggars at Duttapara could not provide proper rehabilitation of the inmates. At one stage, those were found to be ideal grounds for population boom creating new problems for the authorities concerned. What has ultimately happened to Duttapara camps is a subject of research now.
It may be recalled that during the ICC World Cup Cricket in 2011 the government took steps to remove beggars from the streets of Dhaka and Chittagong cities where the matches took place.
The Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) in its efforts to rehabilitate beggars took a number of steps so that they can earn their livelihood with dignity.
The government allocated Taka 125 million for conducting a survey on beggars and to draw a rehabilitation programme on the basis of its report. A good number of NGOs were selected to help implement the rehabilitation programme of the beggars. In Dhaka city the total number of beggars was estimated at 0.7 million.
After the WC Cricket was over the beggars in Dhaka and Chittagong cities again returned to the streets. The question was also raised that how many destitutes taking up begging as a profession are genuine beggars.
Of course, those who have no other means of livelihood need rehabilitation by the government.
khalilbdh@gmail.com
A beggar-free upazila
Khalilur Rahman | Published: November 30, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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