The government has, of late, taken a fresh move to remove beggars from Dhaka city for their rehabilitation. Initially, the ministry of social welfare plans to keep six important places free from alms-seekers. The detailed scheme for the purpose is now being worked out.
On several occasions in the past, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) rounded up beggars from streets in some posh city areas. This was routine exercise of the police authority to keep city streets free from beggars. The alms-seekers were sent to rehabilitation centres outside the city. It is indeed a formidable task to keep the streets free from beggars. Invariably they return to their 'jobs' shortly after the crackdown ends. Such government steps to remove beggars from the city are not new.
All the 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 Tangi 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.
Earlier in this column we pointed out 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 Tk 125 million for conducting a survey on beggars and to draw a rehabilitation programme on the basis of its report. A good number of non-government organisations (NGOs) were selected to help implement the rehabilitation programme of the beggars which was also a pre-election pledge of the present Awami League (AL) government. 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 destitute taking up begging as a profession are genuine beggars. Of course those who have no other means of livelihood needs rehabilitation by the government.
Beggars in larger numbers crowd city streets ahead of the holy month of Ramadan every year. There are allegations that most of the beggars are hired by agents in different parts of the country at various rates ranging from Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000 each for the month of fasting.
Begging is now a booming business. The beggars, in most cases, do not know who actually 'employed' them. The real traders always remain behind the scene and their 'representatives' guard the beggars at different city points. Their earnings are collected after day's business. Physically handicapped men, women and children are carried by rickshaws and manually-propelled vans and placed at city's strategic points. Some crippled beggars are provided with wooden planks or boxes fitted with iron wheels. A little boy or girl at times is found dragging them.
The beggars are found everywhere -- in roads, launch and bus terminals, graveyards, railway stations and in front of shopping malls. The genuine poor people who beg on their own are sometimes driven out of the strategic locations by the agents of traders who operate secretly. There are beggars who go back to their villages after the month of Ramadan and maintain livelihood for the rest of the months with their earnings till Eid festivals.
While a permanent solution to the nagging problem of begging is not easy to find, measures should be taken to keep it under control. The vast rural population often undergoes natural calamities, mainly river erosion which render millions homeless and without provision for earning livelihood. A sizeable portion of these rootless people finds its way into cities and towns in search of jobs. They work as day labourers, domestic helps, rickshaw-pullers and vendors.
Those who are physically disabled and too old find begging as a profession. Their numbers are on the rise. Therefore, it is all the more difficult to chalk out a comprehensive plan without knowing their exact number. A survey by the government agencies with the help of NGOs can be conducted to know details about the number of genuine beggars.
(E-mail: khalilbdh@gmail.com)
Fresh govt move to rehabilitate city\\\'s beggars
Khalilur Rahman | Published: August 10, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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