A Public Audit of Beggary Relief System

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www.rastr.in Tel: +91.9916135836, +91.9886024990 email: [email protected]

A Public Audit of

Beggary Relief System

Compiled by

Srivathsa K & Santosh P. Nargund

July21, 2010


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So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every person a traitor

who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them.

Vivekanand

Foreword

Democracy Survives on the organised institutions of Civil Society exploiting the potential of theapplication of simple tools. The year 2005 ushered a new democratic right to citizens of our

country. Right to Information widely regarded as one of the important legislations passed by

our parliament since independence. It is one of best Transparency laws in the world. It places

an onus on the government to progressively make its functioning and dealings comprehensible

to the public. Along with transparency, RTI empowers civil society to demand accountability

from service providers. A combination of the both these along with Peoples Participation

ensures that planning done by experts in the government are properly enforced precisely to

ensure the best use of the Exchequer the tax payers hard earned money.

Usually existing laws and rules are often not enforced and we see violations everywhere . We

need delivery output efficiency. Thus we have a last mile problem.

Social audits on Public Services are attracting attention everywhere. RTI provides our civil

society huge quantum of information. The credibility of this information cannot be questioned,

as the source is Government Statistics. The Ability and Willingness of Public Agencies to

respond have varied. Some of these agencies may have their own constraints, but the rigidity

and unresponsiveness of government is also exposed. The era of e-governancehas already

arrived and RTI once again by stipulating Proactive Declarations revised every year at

Regular intervals is one good example.

A few young friends under the banner of Rashtrotthan Sankalp, who are professionally

Technical persons with a motto of Evil Triumphs When Good People Sit Quiethave spent

all their leisure hours and carried out a social audit using exclusively RTI. They have gone deep

into studying the problem of beggary relief and best use of the tax paid by all of us as Beggary

cess. The Audit is an eye opener.

The recommendations and suggestions are really excellent .The increased sharing of this

knowledge in the form of Social Audit is not a ritual but force of citizens feedback, a fight for

the Survival of Democracy itself. The Stakes of this survival are too high for all of us and we

shall never give up, building a strong foundation to improve Public Accountability and

Performance in our country.

We all hope to see many more such Social Audits carried out in diverse sectors as a force for

change in the minds of our Political Leaders and Administrators. The dream of our Father of

Nation to usher Ram Rajyais sure to become a reality.

N Vikramsimha ,

Trustee , Mahithi Hakku Adhyayana Kendra, Bengalooru

Note

This audit was undertaken and is presented with the sole intention of bringing positive changes

in our system and society. No insult, harm or derogation is meant to any person or institution,

whatsoever. All comments are made in good faith and should be construed as constructive

criticism, where applicable.


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Contents

Abbreviations ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3

Beggary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4

Why an Audit of Beggary Relief System? ... ... ... ... ... 4

A Survey ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6Visits to the CRC and Relief Centre (NPK) ... ... ... ... ... 7

Visit to the Railway Authorities ... ... ... ... ... ... 8

Digging the Information out of the System ... ... ... ... 8

The Mess in Administration of the Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975 ... 10

Concluding Observations and Recommendations ... ... ... 22

References ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25

Acknowledgments ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25

Abbreviations

BBMP Bruhat Bengalooru Mahanagara Palike

CMC City Municipal Council

CRC Central Relief Committee

CRF Central Relief Fund

HDMC Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation

KIC Karnatak Information Commission

KPB Act Karnataka Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975

LRC Local Relief CommitteeMUDA Mysore Urban Development Authority

NPK Nirashritara Parihara Kendra (Beggary Relief Centre)

p.a. per annum

PHC Primary Health Centre

PIO Public Information Officer (under the RTI Act, 2005)

RASTR RAshtrotthan Sankalp TRust

RDPR Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Department (Govt. of Karnatak)

RTI Right to Information

RWA Residents Welfare Association

TMC Town Municipal Council

TP Taluk Panchayat / Town Panchayat

u/s under section

UDD Urban Development Department (Govt. of Karnatak)

ULB Urban Local Body

VP Village Panchayat

ZP Zilla Panchayat

Act'' means the Karnataka Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975

Rule'' means the Rules for the Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975


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Beggary

63 years after gaining self-rule, millions of our citizens are yet to realise justice social,economic and political. We are yet to give every citizen a decent opportunity to earnhis / her

basic necessities like food, shelter, health care and education. India still has a long way to go to

raise the infrastructure necessary to realise the dream of a happy and prosperous nation. One

of the factors that contribute to the building of a happy and prosperous nation is

self-reliance self-reliance of its citizens. The uneven distribution of economic resources

among the population coupled with illiteracy and lower levels of education have ensured that

unemployment and poverty have remained a grim reality over the past 6 decades. The benefits

of our economic progress are yet to reach all strata of our society. While we see pockets of

prosperity and even luxury, large masses are still undereducated and are under acute poverty.

We are also far away from devising an effective and stable system to provide shelter and relief

to citizens struck by misfortune, calamities, disablement due to old-age, sickness or otherwise.

As a result of skewed economic policies, uneven wealth/resource distribution, lack of

opportunities, economic/social distress, and absence of responsive relief systems, some are

forced to means like begging, while others tend to challenge the present system itself and join

extreme movements like naxalism. No wonder both these tendencies have made big headlines

in recent years and the society and state are grappling with the naxal menace.

Why an Audit of Beggary Relief System?

Culturally, begging has been recommended in our country as a virtuous practice for a person

dedicated to learning or advancing knowledge or working for public good or a sanyasi or a

student to make a living by begging. And to balance such demands, it is also regarded as a

virtuous practice for householders and the common people to donate or provide alms to such

sections of the society and also to those in real need. However as society degenerated and

economy crumbled in the previous millennium, more and more of the people slipped to the

practice of living by begging due to extreme poverty. Also, as virtues were lost gradually, lazy

people entered the stream of people making a living by begging. With these able-bodied men

and women, with no special objectives of advancement of knowledge or public good taking to

begging, begging lost its virtuous position (maligned) in India.

Statistics

Various surveys in recent times have projected grim figures of beggary in leading cities of

India increasingly seen as icons of Indias newfound prosperity. According to surveys by

different Voluntary Organizations, Mumbai has over 3 lakh beggars, whereas Delhi has 60,000.

While one in every 354 citizens of Hyderabad is a beggar, Kolkata has 75,000 and Bengalooru

has 56,000 of them [Ref. 3].

A survey done by Delhi University for the Delhi government found that over 2/3 rd of the beggars

were able-bodied men, 71% were driven by poverty. IndiaToday.inreports that 85% beggars

have no information about beggar homes (relief centres). It is found that 96% of the beggars

earn an average daily income between Rs. 80 100, which is more than the income of dailywage earners. At some of the busiest traffic junctions a beggar often makes Rs. 450 in a day.

The average bank balance of beggars in Kolkata is Rs. 25,000; and that the worth of Mumbai

beggars is Rs. 180 crores. The data is indicative of the fact that beggary has become a

lucrative profession where one earns for doing nothing [Ref. 4]. While some hate to beg but

have no option, others, prefer the easy money to wages earned by work. Many slipped into

beggary due to familial/social problems. There are also instances of begging rackets that force

women and children to get into this profession.


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Causes & Effect

Circumstances may force a person to resort to acts like begging to sustain himself / herself. For

a person to take to begging there are certain push factors like familial, social or economic

adversities, poverty, unemployment, disability, destitution, old age and drug addiction. There

are also certain pull factors like easy source of income. However, begging is an insult to the

self-respect of a person. Beggary is the most inhumane condition a person can be in. Persons

compelled to beg under genuine conditions like distress, calamities, destitution, old age,

extreme disability, etc. deserve sympathy. However engaging in begging as a profession (for apermanent source of income) to make easy money is disgraceful. In fact, common disablement

can also be no cause of begging to a person with self-respect. There are innumerable

examples of handicapped people taking up complex professions.

Another aspect, which encourages beggary, is from the 'supply' side. Helping fellow human

beings and indulging in charity is a noble act and it needs encouragement. However, many

people think that giving alms to beggars will earn them virtue and wash-away their misdeeds

(paapa karmas). While others simply take pity to the apparent condition of the man / woman

presenting a sorry face and begging. Either of these things is not helping anybody. In fact

finding easy money by begging makes people lazy. And also as will be seen later in this report

as a finding of our survey, many people overcome by laziness choose begging as a profession

to make easy bucks. That is why it is common to see even able men and women begging.

Moreover, donating a rupee or two will hardly help to provide long-lasting relief and

rehabilitation to a person overcome by circumstances. Such a person can only seek relief

through a way to rehabilitate himself / herself by taking back to earning his necessities himself

and leading a life of self-respect and contentment.

The aspects discussed in the preceding paragraphs and our own day-to-day experiences with

beggars indicate that this problem has several facets and that several factors are at work. It is

with this understanding that various laws on beggary have been framed. Our laws dealing with

beggary date back to the pre-independence era. These laws, generally, while prohibiting

beggary, provide for relief of the citizens taken to beggary and raise taxes for the relief

envisaged under these laws. Such laws seek to address the issue of beggary by appreciating

the urge of citizens to help their fellow citizens in distress and by channelising citizens' moneytowards relief and rehabilitation of beggars and discouraging indiscriminate alms-giving. The

Karnataka Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975 is one such progressive law.

The Law

The KPB Act is "an Act to prohibit persons from resorting to begging and to provide for the

detention, training and employment of beggars, for the custody, trial and punishment of beggar

offenders and for the relief and rehabilitation of such persons in the State of Karnataka" [Ref 1].

In practice, however, the laws are not sympathetic to destitution and the unfortunate. A person

is provided relief only when he starts begging! The society and state are reactive and not

proactive in providing relief. The anti-beggary laws prohibit giving alms to the beggar. The idea

is in principle to discourage beggary and to make civil society sensitive towards beggary. Theone time help has proved to be of little help to the beggars. Indiscriminate alms-giving is neither

good for the giver, nor for the receiver. Theres a need to replace the philanthropic approach to

the issue of beggary with a therapeutic approach and rehabilitative work.

In spite of the prohibition on beggary in force for nearly half a century and the tax being

collected for relief of beggars, we see beggars all over. This is a betrayal to the citizens by the

administration. Citizens are bound to pay the tax, which totals to crores of rupees every year,

without any signs of effective handling of the issue of beggary or the implementation of the laws


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seriously. This warrants public action to investigate and audit the entire system of beggary relief

and effect corrections where necessary.

RASTR Effort

It is in this light that Rashtrotthan

Sankalp (RASTR) undertook this study

of facets of Beggary, the society and

state's response to it and an audit of theBeggary Relief System mainly as

enabled by the Karnataka Prohibition of

Beggary Act, 1975 and present it before

the citizens. This study, which began in

Jan. 2008, is based on data collected till

June 2010 and is limited by the

resources at the disposal of RASTR,

and the response of and access to

various public agencies and the

information available with them.

A SurveyTo ascertain the facts on begging and

understand the Beggars' point of view,

Associates of RASTR carried out an

on-site survey of beggars and beggary

at different places in Bengalooru. The

main areas covered were Avenue

Road, Majestic area, BMTC /

Kempegowda bus-stand, Gandhinagar

area, City Railway Station, etc. The

following observations were made

after the survey: Beggars move freely.

People complain about beggary but most continue to give money to beggars.

Vast majority of the citizens are not aware of the prohibition on beggary and are ignorant of

the law for the relief of beggars or the tax they pay for management of beggars' relief.

Police ignore the beggars and do not arrest them on

sighting them as required by the Act. U/s 23 of the Act,

beggary is a cognisable offence. As such, every police

official or other designated officials of the state are required

to arrest a beggar at sight and transfer him / her to a

receiving center.

Beggars roam freely in the railway stations and trains. As

per railway laws, beggars are required to be fined and

arrested by the Railway authorities and handed over to the

State police to be taken to relief centres.

Many beggars speak of their 'rights'. They have Voters

I-Cards and Ration Cards! Some made covert threats to us

invoking their 'contacts'with goondaelements including political bosses.


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Very few beggars may be forced to beg due to adversities in life. Many have made it their

profession. And would not quit it even when given an opportunity.

Many earn as much as Rs. 500 a day!

Entire families are into begging, with each member making Rs. 200 - 500 a day.

Beggars are contemptuous of the Relief Centres. They have a good network. They

disappear from the streets as soon as the Relief Centres' officials are on rounds to arrest

them. On being arrested, they are also confident of coming out soon and restarting to beg.They are confident of doing so with the help of their organized groups, supported by

lawyers and leaders, including political leaders.

Visits to the CRC and Relief Centre (NPK)

Members of Rashtrotthan Sankalp visited the Beggary Relief Center several times. The first

time, a letter was presented to the Secretary of the Central Relief Committee (CRC). Following

important requests were made to the government.

The implementation of the Act has not been

satisfactory. Although the Act prohibits

beggary in the entire state, beggary continues

as though there was no prohibition at all.Hence it was requested to the government to

acknowledge the reality by declaring

prominent public places like bus-stands,

markets, subways, fly-overs, areas around

places of worship, etc. in cities and towns as

'Beggary Free Zones and work towards

progressively scaling up the prohibition on

beggary to the entire state. This step should not be seen a replacement to the prohibition

across the state but instead as one leading to the final goal of achieving a beggary-free

State.

Establish a single window Helplineto report instances of beggary and aid beggary relief.This would greatly facilitate in tackling the bane of beggary as most of the times citizens

find it difficult to follow-up instances of beggary despite their earnest desire to help the law

enforcement agencies. This way, the authorities could involve public participation in

identifying people in distress and take appropriate relief measures efficiently.

Initiate efforts to tackle the issue of beggary by effective implementation of the KPB Act

from all aspects.

Publicise the provisions of the KPB Act and

create awareness among public by publishing

material by various means like hoardings,

advertisements in mass media, engaging civil

society, NGOs, RWAs, etc. on variousaspects of beggary and the beggary relief

system

The Secretary was initially quite surprised that

well-educated youth were working on social

issues. Though he expressed his happiness at this, he was quite reluctant in sharing all the

information. We sensed that this department was one of those that the government carried as a

burden. Finally, the Secretary appreciated our initiative but showed little inclination to take

concrete steps on our suggestions.


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In another visit to the NPK at Magadi road, Bengalooru, we met the Superintendent. Although

he had his own apprehensions about our 'motives', he was kind to have a freewheeling chat

with us. He was surprised to learn that we had studied the Act. We walked through the open

areas of the NPK and had a glimpse of the inmates. He told us that the inmates who are set

free take to begging again and the trainings given, if any, to these people have been in vain.

According to an official, Beggary is more of a mental disease than a

social problem. He added that people who get into beggary would

have made up their mind and would have resolved not to workanymore and would live on the alms given by others. He also gives

examples of people with qualifications like M.Sc., MBA, etc., who

were arrested and brought in to the NPK. He also stated Crime and

beggary are two never dying parts of the society. Both the Secretary

and the Superintendent were of the opinion that as long as the

people continue to give money, beggary cannot be stropped.

Visit to the Railway Authorities

Sighting beggars in trains and railway stations is common. Section 144(2) of The Railways Act,

1989 prohibits begging in trains and railway stations. People found begging are liable for

punishment u/s 144(1) up to one year or a f ine of Rs. 2000 or both.

Associates of RASTR visited and presented a memorandum to the railway authorities in

Bengalooru to press for implementation of these provisions in the Railways Act. However, we

were greeted with indifference as expected.

Digging the Information out of the System

When Associates of RASTR began the study,

very little information was available. Few

reports in the media about some drives to nab

beggars were all that was accessible. These

reports presented the usual official position

and some stories of how some people enteredbeggary. None, however, seemed to critically

examine the whole issue. The KPB Act and the

provisions in the Railways Act were also still veiled (as most laws are to the citizens in India).

Thanks to the Internet, we were able to trace soft copies of these Acts. Although these opened

our eyes to a whole new scenario that ought to have existed, the Acts themselves could not

present an account of the

implementation of the provisions, the

management of relief and

rehabilitation, finances, etc.

Moreover, the Rules made under

these Acts were yet to be unearthed.

Thus began a long drawn quest to dig

out the information from our system

through a slew of applications under

the Right to Information (RTI) Act,

2005. Applications u/s 6(1) of the RTI

Act were thus filed with various

government agencies including the

Social Welfare Department, CRC,

NPK Bengalooru, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department, Urban

Under the RTI Act, each public authority

should have made the suo motudeclarations

u/s 4(1)(b) way back in 2005. It appreas

that the 4(1)(b) declarations of CRC and

NPK, Bengalooru were prepared only inresponse to our application.


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Development Department (UDD), Bruhat Bengalooru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP), Mysore

Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC).

Although we were able to unearth a sizable amount of information, not all of our queries were

answered. The RTI Act was violated by nearly all government authorities, that we approached.

In many cases the authorities dragged for months and yielded only after repeated warnings of

disciplinary action by the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC).

Almost in all cases the information provided was deliberately incomplete. When data was

requested from 1975, we received no information or only for a few years. The CRC and NPK,

Bengalooru had no suo motudeclaration u/s 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act.This study would not have been possible without two

things Internet / Information Technology and the RTI Act.

Transparency is the key to accountability in a democratic

society. And it is true that information is a key enabler of

transparency. Thanks to the RTI Act, we could access many

details, which are not easily available to the common man,

and our study could take a reasonably comprehensive

shape that it has now.

Department /

Agency

Information

SoughtResponse to RTI Applications

Social Welfare

Dept. / CRC

Administration of

the KPB Act

Dragged the hearings in KIC for over 6 months to provide the

requested informationRural

Development &

Panchayat Raj

(RDPR) Dept.

Beggary Cess

Collection and

transfer to CRF

by VPs

Request forwarded to all ZPs; Few ZPs forwarded request to TPs;

Out of these very few TPs compiled the information and

responded; Many VPs from these TPs responded individually; No

response at all from 25 districts

Urban

Development Dept

(UDD)

Beggary Cess

Collection and

transfer to CRF

by ULBs

No Response Received to first application; Only about 70 ULBs

out of 229 in the state responded to the 2nd application

Self-declaration

u/s 4.1.b of the

RTI Act, 2005

Responded within 30 days; However 4-1-b declaration is

incomplete and it appears that NPK prepared this only after our

request for a copy of the same; Under the RTI Act declaration u/s

4-1-b is mandatory for every public authority.Annual

Administrative

Reports

Responded within 30 days; However out of reports sought for 4

years only 3 are provided;

Nirashritara

Parihara Kendra,

Bangalore

Self-declaration

u/s 4.1.b of the

RTI Act, 2005

Responded within 30 days; However 4-1-b declaration is

incomplete and it appears that NPK prepared this only after our

request for a copy of the same; Under the RTI Act declaration u/s

4-1-b is mandatory for every public authority.

BBMP

Beggary Cess

Collection and

transfer to CRF

No Response Received

HDMC

Beggary Cess

Collection and

transfer to CRF

Responded within 30 days; Provided details for only 3 years

instead of for all years requested;

Mysore Urban

Development

Authority (MUDA)

Beggary Cess

Collection and

transfer to CRF

Invented different reasons to avoid providing the information;

finally after a year provided the requested information on a stern

direction from the KIC;

Response of Government Departments to RTI Applications

Central Relief

Committee (CRC)


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The Mess in Administration of the Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975

As we started studying the material that was piling up as a result of our research, we

discovered that beggary was an issue of concern and action to the government not merely post

independence but much before that. The Bombay and Madras Presidencies (under the British

rule) had laws prohibiting beggary. So had the princely states of Mysore and Hyderabad. Post

independence and post unification of the state the Government of Karnataka consolidated all

the beggary laws then in force in different parts of the state and enacted the KPB Act in 1975.

Study of the KPB Act and its Rules revealed that a very methodical system to deal withbeggary, and management of relief and rehabilitation of beggars ought to have existed.

We now discuss important provisions of the KPB Act and its Rules, and examine their

implementation.

The Act defines a beggar

as any person other than a

child who:

solicits or receives alms

in a public place

whether or not under

any pretence such as

singing, dancing,

fortune telling,

performing tricks, or

selling articles

having no visible means

of subsistence, wanders

about or remains in any

public place in such

condition or manner as

makes it likely that he

exists by soliciting or

receiving alms

allows himself to be

used as an exhibit for

the purpose of soliciting

or receiving alms

exposes or exhibits with

the object of obtaining

or extorting alms, any

sore, wound, deformity

or disease whether of a

human being or of an

animal

enters any private

premises for the

purpose of soliciting or

receiving alms;

A religious mendicant

licensed by the CRC or a

person soliciting alms in performance of any religious vow as sanctioned by custom or religion

Sl.

No.

Place /

DistrictContact Information of NPKs

1 Bengalooru

Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra

Magadi Main Road, Bengalooru-560091

Ph.: 080-23481580

2 Vijapur


Afsalpur Road, Vijapur

Ph.: (95)8352-271665

3 BallarySuperindent, Nirashritara Parihara KendraBaddihatti, Aaladahalli Road, Kaubjar, Ballary

Ph.: 9886612469

4 Belagavi


Mukkam post, Machche Taluk, Belagavi

Ph.: (95)831-2930217

5 Chitradurga


Near Railway Station, Sadanandayya Layout, Chitradurga

Ph.: (95)8194-220258

6 Davanagere


Turuchigatta Gomal, Belavanur Post, Davanagere

Ph.: (95)8192-260271

7 Gulburga


Biddapur Colony, Gabbur Road, Gulburga

Ph.: (95)8472-251369

8Hubballi-

Dharwad


Rayapur, Hubballi-Dharawad

Ph.: (95)836-2224028

9 Kolar


Tamak Post, National Highway Bypass, Kolar

Ph.: (95)8152-210167

10 Mysooru


Jyoti nagar, Mysooru

Ph.: (95)821-2473767

11 Mangalooru


Pachchanadi Grama, Vaamanjur Post,

Mangalooru, Dakshin Kannada

Ph.: (95)824-2482469

12 Raichur Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara KendraAashapur Road, Near Doordarshan Kendra, Raichur

Ph.: (95)8532-231568

13 Shivamogga


Tyavarekoppa, Sagar Road, Koteganangur Post,

Shivamogga

Ph.: (95)8182-233713

14 Tumkur


Basavaraj Building, Heggere, Siddharth Nagar, Tumkur

Ph.: (95)816-2298286

Nirashritara Parihara Kendras (NPKs) / Relief Centres in Karnatak


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or a student collecting alms for the prosecution of his / her studies is exempted from the

prohibition provided they collect alms without being a nuisance.

Illprepared to Start

The KPB Act was first applied in 1976 to 10 cities: Bengalooru, Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad,

Mysooru, Mangalooru, Gulburga, Davanagere, Shivamogga, Vijapur and Ballary. In 1997, the

prohibition was extended to the entire state. In 2000, NPKs were started in Kolar, Tumkur,

Chitradurga and Raichur.Sec. 1(3) of the Act clearly states that the provisions of the Act shall not be brought into force

in any area unless the state government is satisfied that suitable facilities exist for the relief of

the beggars of that area. However, the term suitable facilitiesis neither described in the Act

nor in its Rules. To a RTI query on what constituted suitable facilitiesas defined in Sec. 1 of

the Act, the CRC provided no clear answer. Answering another query, the CRC said that steps

are being taken to provide facilities in NPKs in stages.

To yet another query regarding number of relief centres opened without suitable facilities, the

CRC replied that the NPKs in Tumkur, Kolar and Chitradurga were started in rented premises.

This poses a question on the decision of the government to enforce the Act to the entire state.

How did the government satisfy itself that suitable facilities existed for the relief of beggars,

without defining the term itself?This topic is even more relevant because till date the facilities available for relief and

rehabilitation of beggars are incapable of meeting the annual requirement for the same. For

instance, the

Bengalooru NPK has

a capacity to house

about 900 inmates at

a time. This has

remained constant for

decades. The number

of beggars arrested

every year is muchmore than this

capacity and nowhere

near the number of

beggars estimated in

the city as indicated

earlier. Hence, every

few months the

inmates are released

to accommodate the

new ones arrested,

regardless of whether

the old ones aretrained and

rehabilitated or not.

Hence most of the

beggars released

take back to begging,

mocking the whole

system of beggary

relief.

Sl.

No.

Place /

District

Land

(Acre)

Dormitory School Training

Centre

PHC Vehicle

to Arrest

Beggars

Others

1 Bengalooru 163 7 Yes Yes Yes 1

1 tractor,

bore-wells,

Office bldg.,

Staff qrtrs.

2 Vijapur 4 Yes No No No 11 bore-well,

Office bldg.

3 Ballary 2 Yes No No No No1 bore-well,

Office bldg.

4 Belagavi 39 2 No No No 11 bore-well,

Office bldg.

5 Chitradurga 10Rented

buildingNo No No No NA

6 Davanagere 10 2 No No No 11 bore-well,

Office bldg.

7 Gulburga 4 2 No No No 11 bore-well,

Office bldg.

8Hubballi-

Dharwad10 2 No No No 1

1 bore-well,

Office bldg.

9 Kolar 23Rented


10 Mysooru 10 Yes No No No 11 bore-well,

Office bldg.

11 Mangalooru 2 Yes No No No 11 bore-well,

Office bldg.

12 Raichur 10Rented


13 Shivamogga 29 Yes No No No 11 bore-well,

Office bldg.

14 Tumkur 2Rented


Infrastructure / Assets of NPKs


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Pathetic Infrastructure & Staffing

The infrastructure available to enforce the KPB Act is another point in question. Information

available with us indicates that handsome land is available to most NPKs in the state. However,

34 years after the Act was enforced in 10 Cities and 13 years after the Act was extended to the

entire state:

Less than half the districts in the state have Relief centres (NPKs)

Own buildings for 3 out of 14 NPKs are still under construction. No NPK in the state, except at Bengalooru, has a School, Training Centre or PHC.

5 out of 14 NPKs do not have a single vehicle to arrest beggars.

The Bengalooru NPK, which sees an inflow of about 1300 - 1600 beggars every year,

has also only one vehicle.

Another fact shows that the government is

ill-prepared or hardly making honest efforts to

implement the KPB Act effectively is its failure to

staff the CRC and the NPKs with the sanctioned

strength of officials. As per the Administrative

Report of the CRC for 2008-09, of all the postssanctioned for beggary relief offices across the

state, 54% were vacant. Reports of earlier years

show the same trend.

The sorry state of affairs may be appreciated from the fact that the post of the Accounts Officer

and that of the Office Superintendent in the

CRC were indicated as vacant in the 4(1)(b)

declaration of the CRC made in Dec. 2009.

The duties of the Accounts Officer include

management of the accounts of the CRC

(which effectively means accounts of

beggary relief in the entire state),

management of the annual budget, and

release of funds for beggary relief.

The post of Head Warderof the Relief department is vacant in the Bengalooru NPK. Making

things worse, 10 out of 17 (59%) posts of Warders in the Relief department and 12 out of 18

(67%) posts of Warder in the Receiving department are vacant. The story continues with the

posts of the Agriculture Officer, Binding Instructor, and the lone Dhobiand Ayahalso vacant.

The Bengalooru NPK has posts of just 2 Cooks and 2 Watchmen sanctioned for strength of

more than 900 inmates at any time. With this

state-of-affairs in the Relief Center in the

capital, the situation in the other NPKs in the

state is left to the public's imagination. Under

Rule 8(iv)(a), the Secretary of the CRC isauthorised to make all appointments to posts

sanctioned by the government.

Law Violated in letter & Spirit

Section 4 of the KPB Act provides for

constitution and powers of the CRC. The Act lays down that the CRC shall constitute of 3

official and 4 non-official members. Rule-4 to the Act, however, specifies that the CRC shall

Group Sanctioned Vacant % Vacant

Group A 1 0 0

Group B 15 7 47

Group C 164 91 55

Group D 50 27 54Total 230 125 54

Posts under CRC and the NPKs (Apr. 1, 2009)

The Bengalooru NPK had 308 acres of

land in 1944 when it was started. Now

166 acres remains. Even in this land

the Government has grand plans to

develop a 'Mini Lalbagh' and relocatethe NPK to a new place, details of

which are not available.

Santioned / Vacant Posts

0

50

100

150

200

250

Group A Group B Group C Group D Total

Sanctioned Vacant


13/26


1976

-77

1978

-79

1980

-81

1982

-83

1984-85

1986

-87

1988

-89

1990

-91

1992

-93

1994-95

1996

-97

1998

-99

2000

-01

2002

-03

2004-05

2006

-07

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

5500

6000

6500

Beggars in Relief Centres of Karnataka (1976 - 2008)

Total Bengalooru Rest of state

Year

NumberofBeggarsinRelie

fCentres

consist of not less than 15 members and not exceeding 30 members. Even ignoring these

inconsistencies the government has been in the red.

Far from a strength of 7 or 15 whichever is correct, the government has appointed no more

than 4 members to the CRC for years. All the 4 members are IAS / KAS officers and the CRC

has absolutely no representation from the public, civil society, social scientists or experts in

relevant fields like management or technology, rendering it opaque to any public scrutiny or

dynamism whatsoever.

Local Relief Committees with not less than 8 members and not more than 12 members are to

be created by the CRC to administer the Act in different areas. The District Commissioners act

as the Chairmen of the respective Local Committees. The District Social Welfare Officer is the

Member Secretary of the LRCs. We could not include in this study the working of LRCs or

NPKs other than the one at Bengalooru. However, our associates from Hubballi-Dharwad

report irregularities and mismanagement at the NPK there.

Officials Dont Care

Sec. 23 makes all offences under the KPB Act cognizable. Also as per Rule 47, a police officer

is required to arrest any person found begging and move him to the nearest receivingcentreor

arrest any person abetting beggary. However, it is no secret that begging continues right in the

presence of police and the police more often than not turn a blind eye to beggars. To a queryunder the RTI Act about the number of people arrested for begging by the police every year,

the CRC provided no answer. The government may authorise other officers to arrest beggars

on sight. It is understood that officers of the rank of Tahashildar and above are authorised to

arrest beggars and send them to receivingcentres.

A person arrested for begging may be sentenced for detention extending from 1 to 3 years by

the magistrate. From the above chart and table the following observations are made:

There are large fluctuations in the total number of inmates in all relief centres of Karnatak

between successive years. For instance, in 1979-80 there were about 3000 inmates all


14/26


over state, which fell steeply to only 1000 (67% decrease) in the next year i.e. 1980-81.

So was there a drop in beggary in a single year? The answer may be no, as the total

inmates all over the state climbed to nearly 2200 the very next year in 1981-82, peaking

back to 3000 in 1984-85.

Then for few years it increased and decreased every alternate year. Generally, it kept


15/26


falling and reached a low of 1700 in 1990-91. Thereafter, it started rising and peaked to

about 4800 in 1994-95. The very next year it sharply fell to 2800 (42% fall). It further

continued its slide to reach a low of about 2300 in 1997-98. From there it again

alternated with ups and downs. Then in 2001-02 it reached nearly 6100, a jump of 167%

in 2 years!! . Then again the saga of fluctuations continued until it dropped to about 5000

in 2007-08.

The number of beggars lodged in the Bengalooru relief center (per year) remained stuck

at about 2000 even in 2007-08, which it was 34 years back in 1976-77.

A point to be noted here is that the capacity of the Bengalooru centre is only 900 at any

given point of time. Beggars are released to intake more beggars arrested. Hence the

total beggars incoming in the Bengalooru relief centre is around 2000 per year always.

Similarly the chart only shows the number of beggars brought into a particular centre in

any particular year and not its capacity, which may be much smaller.

There does not seem to be any capacity addition or the numbers fail to generate any

trust in the situation of beggary in the state.

Post 2001-02, there's a spurt in the number of beggars brought into the relief centres.

However, the capacity may not have undergone any additions.

The Davanagere centre, which had 74 beggars in 1997-98, had not a single beggar inthree successive years between 1998-2001. In 2001-02 again it had 279 beggars.

In 2001-02, four centres Hubballi-Dharwad, Mysooru, Mangalore and Shivamogga had

not a single beggar. In the following year, they each had not less than 159 beggars.

Even though the figures above show big numbers, the same people may have been

arrested and detained in NPKs again and again over the years and yet they would not

have reformed.

If a person is re-arrested for begging, he may be detained in a relief centre up to 3 years. An

absconding beggar or a person, who takes to begging on being discharged from a relief centre,

may be sentenced to 3 months' imprisonment. Any person employing people in begging or

abetting beggary is liable to rigorous imprisonment extending to 3 months.

Wheres the Training?

As part of relief measures, the beggars

arrested and housed in the NPKs must

be provided with training in various

vocations, so that they can make a new

beginning on their release and attain

self-reliance. Training in itself is however

of not much practical use, unless the

inmates are assisted to acquire jobs or to

start their own enterprise. The track

record of training provided to the inmatesis dismal. Only 11% of beggars in the

relief centres of Karnatak attended any kind of training in 2008-09. In 2005-06 14% of beggars

living in the NPKs in the state attended training, while in 2007-08, the figure stood at 18%.

Fiscal Slips

Sec. 30 of the Act has created a fund called the Central Relief Fund (CRF), which consists of:

subscriptions and donations

grants from government

Training to Inmates

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

2005-0

6

2007-0

8

2008-0

9

Beggars Arrested

Inmates Trained


16/26


Beggary Relief: Income & Expenditure (1975 - 2007)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1975

-76

1977

-78

1979

-80

1981

-82

1983

-84

1985

-86

1987

-88

1989

-90

1991

-92

1993

-94

1995

-96

1997

-98

1999

-2000

2001

-02

2003

-04

2005

-06

2007

-08

Year

Income/Expend

iture(LakhRs.)

Income (Beggary Cess) Expenditure

cess on designated items

grants from local bodies, and private or public institutions

fines recovered under the Act

receipts from other sources

The primary source of the CRF is the cess levied as surcharge at the rate of 3% on tax on

lands and buildings (property tax) collected by the local bodies.

In a reply to a RTI query, The CRC stated that the Beggary Cess is levied, collected and

transferred by local bodies. The Administrative Report of the CRC for 2008-09 also makes the

same claim. This is proven to be a complete misrepresentation of facts by the discussion that

follows. The CRC did not respond to the query asking the duration within which the beggary

cess collected by the local bodies is to be transferred to the CRF.

The issue of collection of beggary cess and its transfer to the CRF gives enough indication of

the maladministration of the KPB Act. The KPB Act came into force in 1975 in 10 City

Corporations. The Karnatak government directed these 10 City Corporations in 1976 to collect

the beggary cess and deposit the same into the CRF. The prohibition on beggary was extended

to the entire state in 1997. In 2000, the government ordered all local bodies (Panchayats,

Municipalities and Corporations) in the state to collect the beggary cess and deposit the same

into the CRF. However, no local body has ever cared to either collect it properly or deposit the

collected cess into the CRF. Most city corporations have been collecting the cess for more than

2 decades, but never transferred the amount to CRF for beggars' relief, on time or in full.

The above chart shows the income and expenditure of the CRC as provided by it in response to

a query under the RTI Act. No cess was either collected or deposited into the CRF between

1975 and 1978. The income of the CRC has seen wide fluctuations. The amount deposited in

the CRF has never been increasing consistently year on year. Instead it has alternatively

increased and decreased over the years. In some instances it has nosedived by as much as

50 - 90% year on year as in 1981-82, 1993-94 or 1999-2000.

Associates of RASTR had filed applications under the RTI Act with government agencies to

estimate the status of beggary cess collection and its transfer to the CRF. While the UDD failed


17/26


to respond to two applications, the BBMP violated the RTI act by not caring to respond. The

MUDA played all tricks to avoid providing details of its mess-up of the beggary cess. HDMC

replied only with partial information.

Among the ULBs, the BBMP led the

default with Rs. 23 crores in arrears

as on Oct. 2007. Only about 70 ULBs

out of 229 in the state responded to

our queries under RTI Act. A citycorporation like HDMC collects as

much as Rs. 43 lakhs in beggary

cess in a year from citizens. But this

amount never gets transferred to the

CRF for actual beggary relief. By

2006-07 HDMC sat on an arrears of

Rs. 1.61 crores collected as beggary

cess for decades since the KPB Act

was 'enforced'. As on 2008-09 HDMC owed more than Rs. 2.53 crores to the CRF. 8 ULBs of

Hassan district owed over Rs. 68.31 lakhs in arrears to the CRF at the end of 2008-09. While

the ULBs in Kolar district had nearly Rs. 40 lakhs in an arrears to the CRF. In response to our

applications many ULBs promisedto remit the arrears into the CRF and henceforth collect anddeposit into CRF the beggary cess promptly.

Although, Mysooru was among the first 10 cities where the KPB Act was implemented in 1975,

the local authority has not collected the beggary cess for 14 years till 1989. Even the amount

collected since 1989 was never deposited to the CRF. As per its own accounts, MUDA owed

over Rs. 23 lakhs to beggary relief as on 29-Sep-2008. A special meeting of the MUDA was

convened 3 weeks after the filing of our RTI application, in which a justification for non-transfer

of the collected beggary cess for nearly 20 years was invented. MUDA has replied stating that

as a relief centre for beggars was being constructed in Mysooru, and that MUDA has set aside

certain amount for that purpose, the cess is not deposited with the CRF!! Kudos to the 20-year


18/26


vision of MUDA. However, it would be well to remind MUDA that a centre already exists in

Mysooru. Nothing, of course, was ever heard later of this fantasy philanthropic measure of

MUDA. As such it must stop fooling the public and just do its statutory duty by collecting and

depositing the cess with CRF regularly.

Nearly half the ZPs

in the state did not

respond to the RTI

applicationrequesting

information on

Beggary Cess.

There are nearly

5650 VPs in the

Karnatak. However,

except a few

Panchayats in

Kodagu District, no

VP in the state has

collected the

beggary cess. Manyseemed totally

unaware of any such

provision and

'promised' to collect

from subsequent

years. Some district

administrations

came into action

only as a result of

our RTI applications.

We estimate thecollectible beggary

cess across all local

authorities in the

state to be around

Rs. 12 - 15 crores.

The government

does not have any

figures for these.

However, the actual

cess trickling into

the CRF is neither

consistent nor has

reached this figure

any time in history.

The local bodies are

either not collecting

this cess properly or

depositing the collected cess to the CRF as required by law. As a result of these lapses:

Beggary relief suffered

Citizens are shortchanged / cheated

ZP Beggary Cess Status

Bagalkote

The ZP responded evasively by neither stating the year from which the

beggary cess was collected or by disclosing the amount collected tilldate. It is concluded from the response of the ZP that the cess has not

been collected by the VPs as required by law.

Bengalooru

Rural

Beggary cess not collected by any VP in the district; Few VPs

responded and 'assured' to collect the cess and deposit in the CRF from

2008-09

Bengalooru

UrbanNo Response Received

BelagaviBeggary cess not collected by any VP in the district; Savadatti &

Ramdurg TPs have directed the VPs to collect the cess from 2008-09

Ballary No Response Received

Bidar No Response Received

Vijapur Beggary cess not collected by any VP in the district

Chamrajnagar Only Kollegal TP responded and acknowledged that the beggary cess isnot collected by the VPs.

Chikmagalur Beggary cess not collected by any VP in the district

Chikballapur No Response Received

Chitradurga No Response Received

Dakshina

KannadaNo Response Received

Davanagare No Response Received

Dharwad No Response Received

Gadag No Response Received

Gulburga

Only Aland and Shahpur TPs responded and acknowledged that the

beggary cess is not collected by the VPs; Aland TP 'assured' that the

cess would be collected and deposit in the CRF from 2008-09

HassanNo VP has collected the beggary cess; TPs have directed the VPs in

2008 to collect the beggary cess and deposit into the CRF.Haveri No Response Received

KodaguVPs under the 3 TPs of the district collected the beggary cess for 1 or 2

years but hardly deposited any money in the CRF

Kolar No Response Received

KoppalOnly Kushtagi & Koppal TPs responded and acknowledged that the

beggary cess is not collected by the VPs.

Mandya

No VP has collected the beggary cess; Following a direction from the

RDPR, the Mandya ZP has directed the VPs in Feb. 2008 to collect

the beggary cess and deposit into the CRF.

Mysooru No Response Received

RaichurOnly Raichur TP responded and acknowledged that the beggary cess is

not collected by the VPs.

Ramanagar No Response Received

Shivamogga

No VP has collected the beggary cess; The ZP has issued directions

to all VPs to collect the beggary cess and deposit into the CRF onlyafter the RTI application from the Associates of RASTR reached the

ZP.

Tumkur Beggary cess not collected by any VP in the district

Udupi No Response Received

Uttara

KannadaNo Response Received

Beggary Cess Collection: Village Panchayats


19/26


Penal Measures not for Officials

U/s 31(4) of the Act, if a local body fails to make payment of the beggary cess, the government

is to direct the person having the custody of the fund of the local authority concerned to pay the

amount in priority and such person is bound to comply with the order. Where the amount due

from a local authority is not paid in compliance with the order of the government, then such

amount is to be recovered in the same manner as an arrear of land revenue.

U/s 162 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, an arrear of land revenue may, after

serving a written notice of demand on the defaulter, be recovered by the Deputy Commissioner

or Assistant Commissioner by any one or more of the following processes:

by forfeiture of the occupancy or holding in respect of which the arrear is due, u/s 163;

by distraint and sale of the defaulters moveable property;

by attachment and sale of the defaulters immoveable property;

However, we have never heard of any notices ever served by the Commissioners or of any

proceedings, whatsoever, against any local authority or the person having the custody of the

beggary cess. This easygoing attitude of the CRC and the government suggests that they have

forgotten or have chosen to ignore all these provisions. Moreover the process of recovery

suggested itself sounds archaic.

No Public Scrutiny

As per Sec. 32 of the KPB Act, the government may appoint a Board of Visitors in local areas

(districts / NPKs) to inspect the institutions situated there in and to report on the working of

these institutions and offer suggestions for improvement of the institutions. Such a Board, as

per Rule 44, is to visit the institutions at least once in a month and record its observations and

suggestions in book kept for the purpose.

However, in response to our RTI query, we received no information from CRC about any Board

of Visitors for any NPK across the state. The government has failed to create a mechanism to

receive suggestions and feedback from the public or civil society. As a result, the beggary relief

measures of the government and the administration of the KPB Act are subjected to no public

scrutiny or do not benefit from any feedback on its functioning.


20/26


CRC the Custodian of Beggary Relief

As per Sec. 4(7) of the Act, the supervision, direction and control of all matters relating to the

administration of relief vest with the CRC. Under Rule-3 the organisation and working of

Beggary Relief measures vests in the CRC and the LRCs. The important functions of the CRC

(Rule-7) include:

Making recommendations to the Government to apply the provisions of the Act to any

specified area. As per Sec. 3(1) proviso, the Act shall not be brought into force in any

area unlessthe State

Government

is satisfied

that 'suitable'

facilities exist

for the relief of

the beggars of

that area. This

is a very

import

stipulation in

the Act, which

makes it

mandatory for

the CRC to

create

'suitable'

facilities for

beggary relief,

before

jumping to

enforce the

Act in anyarea. This is a

farsighted

provision to

prevent the

Act from

becoming

impotent and

the collapse of the beggary relief and rehabilitation mechanism. However, the CRC and

the government seem to have given little heed to this provision in bringing the Act into

force in 10 cities in 1975 and again all over the state in 1997.

Issuing licenses to religious to religious mendicants or giving permission for collectingsubscriptions for any public institutions or for public good.

Establishing Receiving and Relief Centres or declaring any institution as such.

Providing for proper management of Receiving and Relief centres and for the proper

care and discipline of the inmates therein, directly or through the LRCs..

Determining the strength of the Establishment to be entertained and sanctioned by the

government.

Sanctioning the staff required by the LRCs.


21/26


Arranging for collection of donations and subscriptions to the CRF.

Considering the Budget to be submitted to the government for approval.

Considering audit and inspection reports

Only Relief, No Rehabilitation

As per Rule-35, arrangements are to be

made to impart elementary education

and to train inmates in agricultural and

industrial occupations. The inmates may

be assigned work by the Officer-in-

charge. For this work, which should not

exceed 6 hours a day, the inmates are

eligible for a daily wage of Rs. 5.

However, we have not come across

assignments of community service to inmates.

All is Well, feels Government, as always

The annual accounts of receipts and expenditure, and the budget are required to be made

available to the public and are to be published. The Controller, State Accounts Department, isthe Auditor of for the CRC and the CRF. The Auditor is required to send the Audit report to the

government (Social Welfare Department). Among other things, the audit report must contain the

amount of any deficiency or loss, which appears to have been caused by gross negligence or

misconduct of any person.

U/s 37 of the Act, the CRC is required to submit an Administrative Reportevery year to the

government. Responding to an application under RTI, requesting copies of Administrative

Reports for 2000-01, 2005-06, 2007-08 and 2008-09, the CRC stated that the report for

2000-01 is not available. This fact again underlines the careless functioning of the system. In a

system where its officers do not value and cannot safeguard their own yearly administrative

reports, what relief the destitute can expect?

Moreover, the reports just list the facilities provided in the relief centres and do not provide anyproactive measures to ameliorate the situation. It may be so because the system is not

functioning in that direction. The system has been reduced to one of providing free shelter and

food for some time, more in a charitable way than with the intention of providing initial

immediate relief and then assist to rehabilitate the destitute. The spirit of the Act itself is

defeated.

The yearly Administrative Reportsof the CRC routinely conclude that allmeasures are being

taken to implement the KPB Act and eliminate beggary, and that the beggary relief measures

have been effective. However, the preceding analysis and the day-to-day experience of the

public indicate that the beggary relief system has been a mere farce, with no signs of

minimisation of beggary or effective measures for beggary relief.

The Officer-in-charge of each Relief and Receiving Centre must attend the Centre from 8 am to

12 noon and from 3 pm to 6 pm every day.

No Foolproof Database of Beggars Arrested / Rehabilitated

The beggars brought into the Receiving Centre are enquired for the necessary particulars.

However there is no thorough system of identification such as fingerprints or other biometric

parameters enforced to identify repeat cases. As such there is practically no system to identify

beggars arrested again and again, except for searching into past records. As such the

provisions for repeat cases may hardly be enforced.

The PIO of MUDA made every attempt

to avoid being present in the KIC hearings,

by making false (?) representation of ill-health

on every time a summon was sent to him.

He succeeded in keeping the deeds of his

department closeted for nearly a year.

Later it was disclosed that the beggary cess

was collected only since 1989 and even that

was never deposited to the CRF!!!!


22/26


Relief Provisions Outdated

The daily scale of diet as prescribed in Rule-32 seems to meet the generally recommended

daily calorie intake. However, the prescribed provisions for clothing, bedding and hygiene leave

much to be desired.

The inmates in the NPKs are eligible for one set of bedding and two sets of clothing peryear.

Each inmate is eligible for 28 grams of soapnut powder per week for bathing

Every female is eligible for 4 grams of hair oil per week Washing soap provided to each male inmate is 20 gram and to each female inmate is 40

gram per week.

Each male inmate eligible for a shave every two weeks.

Conflicting Provisions in the Law??

The printed copies of the KPB Act and the Rules have quite a few conflicting provisions, cross

references, erroneous numbering and mistakes.

Public, Indifferent, as usual

When the draft Rules for Prohibition of Beggary, 1975 were published in 1976, no objection or

suggestion was received and as such the government proceeded with making the Rules.

Concluding Observations and Recommendations

Beggary continues even after 35 years of the KPB Act coming into force, and several

laws on beggary being in force since pre-independence era. This shows the lack of

interest on part of the government officials. The above points indicate a systemic failure

of the Beggary Relief mechanism. From the facts presented in this report, it is more than

evident that successive governments and the CRC as constituted from time to time,

which is the executive arm of the state for beggary relief, have failed pathetically in

performing their duties towards beggary relief both in letter and spirit as envisaged

under the KPB Act.

Among other things, the government has failed to: Appoint the complete 15-30 members on the board of the CRC

Appoint non-official members on the board of the CRC.

Appoint Board of Visitors to the NPKs

Secure the collected beggary cess for beggary relief

Publicise the Act and create awareness among the people

Create helplines for reporting instances of beggary or cases of people in need

Ensure transparency and public participation in the functioning of variousagencies for Beggary relief

Devise proper system of tagging beggars and documentation

Provide adequate infrastructure required for an effective Beggary relief system

Build necessary social & relief infrastructure in making the prohibition effective

Facilitate study and analysis of beggary, destitution and social security

Bring amendments necessary to make the Act and the Ban on Beggary effective

The major issues with the beggary problem are non-awareness about this whole issue,

societys failure in taking cognizance of the entire matter, absence of systematic

humanitarian solutions, and failure of government in enforcing the Beggary laws

efficiently and in the right spirit. Beggary can be practically eliminated or at least

controlled to a great extent if there is will and determination to do so. The Government


23/26


must stop the farce, which it is continuing in the name of beggary relief for over 35

years, and act to bring about real change on ground. The important steps in these would

be implementation of the Act in its true spirit, creating awareness among the public,

building the necessary infrastructure, and by appreciating the links between poverty,

unemployment, disabilities, destitution and beggary, and devising suitable solutions.

Introduce and Foster Efficiency, Transparency & Accountability

Infuse principles of efficient management and professionalism and Foster transparency andaccountability in the Destitute Relief System. The CRC has only 4 members, all of whom are

members in their off icial capacity. There is no representation of the citizens or of Civil Society in

the CRC or Board of Visitors. The successful functioning of any body can be effectively

improvised when the voice of citizens is also heard by the executive. This is the main idea

behind having Board of Visitors in any department. Appoint the full strength of the CRC, the

LRCs and the Boards of Visitors with broad representations from the public, including Civil

Society, Management experts, Social Scientists and citizens. The DC must be relieved of his

duties to the NPKs. A fulltime Chairman to the LRC dedicated completely to destitute relief at

the NPKs must be appointed.

Plug Holes in the Cash Box & Ensure Financial Prudence

The local bodies have either not collected the beggary cess or have not transferred thecollected amount to the CRF. The CRC consisting of top ranking officials from the Social

Welfare and Finance Departments of the Government failed to act for over 3 decades and

recover the beggary cess. The role of the auditors is questionable on not f inding the receivables

from local bodies for decades. The government must take immediate measures to recover all

arrears of beggary cess and other receivables from all authorities / departments at the earliest.

It must also devise mechanism to prevent such total collapse of the funding channels to

destitute relief.

Encourage Research and Analysis

There has been hardly any effort towards scientific study of the issue of destitution and

beggary. There are no traces of a conscious effort to study the causes of beggary and ways torehabilitate beggars in holistic way. The Universities and public Research Institutions have not

been entrusted with studies on this matter.

Build Adequate Infrastructure & Ensure Rehabilitation not Charitable Relief

The system created for Beggary Relief has thus far been struggling to create and maintain the

basic prerequisite of infrastructure to house the arrested beggars. Hardly anything is done to

provide real relief and rehabilitation in the form of helping the inmates to make new beginnings.

The tools of motivation, counseling (by social scientists, psychiatrists, etc.) seem to be totally

absent. The current system acts like a filter, which collects the beggars from time to time but

does nothing much to prevent the inmates released from taking back to begging. Beggary relief

system has been reduced to providing food and shelter for a few months. The entire system is

yet run more as measure of charity than a relief and rehabilitation mechanism.

Even able-bodied beggars arrested and detained in the Relief centres just 'idle'there. There do

not seem to be any plans to engage the inmates in community service projects or any

remunerative works. They are fed all the while on public's money. Ensure right kind of

rehabilitation to inmates arrested. With several schemes like NREG now in place, begging or

idle feeding is no more tolerable. Immediate arrangements must be made to ensure complete

literacy, result oriented training and full employment of all able-bodied destitute.


24/26


Distinguish Destitution from Professional Beggary

The present system makes no effort to distinguish destitution from beggary. Quite a few of the

arrested beggars are old aged and physically disabled. Treating all beggars as criminals does

not help. Only the lazy and the professional may be subjected to Correctional sentences. Full

sympathy with people hit by bad circumstances But zero tolerance to lazy bumps and

professional money-makers thru begging. Injustice to tax-payers, if able-bodied arrested

beggars are fed sitting idle; After all it is the hard-earned money of tax-payers which goes into

feed idling and lazy people.The public and government have to think very seriously about methods of providing relief to the

abandoned (support-less) old aged citizens, without any social security. The approach of the

system should not be punitive (but supportive and corrective). Instead it should be sympathetic

to the whole issue of destitution and must alleviate the condition of citizens slipped into

destitution. The current system recognizes the need of relief only when a person starts begging.

Raise/Widen the Security Net

There are two aspects to the supply side from the government: One, which is general,

even/equitable distribution of income/wealth and creation of opportunities of earning livelihood

to all strata of citizenry. The other is specific to providing relief and rehabilitation to sections of

society or individuals struck by misfortunes in their lives, calamities, handicaps, disabilities orfamilial, social or economic trauma. The government along with the civil society has to take

comprehensive steps to provide these strata the basic amenities and alternative life support

systems so that they can also be discouraged from begging and thereby have their share in the

development of the country. The KPB Act targets only beggary, the extreme stage of

destitution, when the victim (of destitution) takes to begging. Three-pronged strategy needed:

Poverty alleviation, unemployment removal, even distribution of wealth;

Destitute Relief Mechanism / system / Social Security net for all citizens; Rehabilitation ofable bodied destitute.

Inline with this thought a comprehensive legislation which may be called Destitution Relief Act

/ Social Security Actmust be enacted to replace the KPB Act.

Eliminate Escape Avenues

Serial offenders who have made this a profession have to be punished by making them work.

Simply putting them behind bars is not going to make an effect on them. Any person caught

begging on release from relief centre must be subjected correctional imprisonment and

community service. Remove long drawn 'legal channels/ escape avenues';

Out of the Box Solutions

Innovative ways like employing the inmates in maintenance of gardens, roads, and upkeep of

civic amenities.

Use Technological Aids

Introduce biometric identification of beggars arrested. Maintain unified state-wide database of

arrested and released beggars.

Educate Citizens

Take steps to educate people not to help beggars in the wrong direction by giving them alms.

Organise sensitising programmes for the citizens, police, and in schools and Resident Welfare

Associations (RWAs). Issue messages through Hoardings, News papers, Internet, and other

mass media.


25/26


Introduce single point helpline through out state.

The Bombay Beggars Act, 1945, The Prevention of Beggary Act, 1350F (), The Madras

Prevention of Begging Act, 1945, The Mysore Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1944

Citizens: Wake-up

The indifference of the citizens is also a cause for the pathetic situation of beggary relief.

Citizens have failed in three ways:

One, in not holding the administration accountable for so long a period;

Two, in encouraging beggary by providing alms even while a Beggary Relief system is inforce.

There, by failing to debate and push establishment of a broader destitute relief andrehabilitation system and Social Security mechanism.

Appoint Committee

The government must, at the earliest, constitute a Committee to study the entire gamut of

Destitution, Beggary, beggary relief and its administration since the enactment of KPB Act,

1975 and seek recommendations for its efficient handling of beggary, destitution relief, and

social security. Such a Committee must investigate / research and among other things:

reexamine measures to provide relief to destitute suggest mechanism to provide assistance in shelter, food and health care to the citizens

distressed due to old age and disabilities.

Suggest amendments to the beggary/destitution relief laws

Consider bringing all citizens under a Social Security Net

Reconsider the income sources to the CRF with a view to make the income more stableand also to increase its volume. Income tax, etc. instead of / besides beggary cess maybe thought of...

Submit its report within 3 months

References

1. The Karnataka Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975

2. Rules for the Prohibition of Beggary, 1975

3. Beggar's banquet, Damayanti Datta, IndiaToday.in, Jan. 25, 2008http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/3874/Beggar's+banquet.html?page=0

4. Commonwealth Games And A Beggar Free Delhi, Loveleen Kaur, CounterCurrents.org,Sep. 11, 2008, http://www.countercurrents.org/karur110908.htm

5. Our Beggar Problem, Dr. J. M. Kumarappa, 1945,http://books.google.co.in/books?id=B-j0xHwGt1oC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Acknowledgements

We thank the following for their courtesy, help, and support during this exercise.1. Shri Ramaiah, Ex-Secretary, CRC

2. Shri C. B. Gokak, Ex-Superintendent, NPK, Bengalooru

3. Shri Vikram Simha, Mahiti Hakku Adhyayana Kendra, Bengalooru

4. Shri Ashok Halagali, Advocate, Belgaum

5. Shri B. Veeresha, Mahiti Hakku Adhyayana Kendra, Bengalooru

6. Shri Arvindreddy Meiti, Satyashodhana Samiti, Hubballi

7. Dr. Deepak Megeri, Minerva Healthcare and Scientific Pvt. Ltd.


26/26

Over sixty years have passed since we won freedom after a prolonged, bitter, painful yet

courageous and cheerful struggle. The struggle for independence was indeed a high watermark

in the history of our civilisation. However, revivalist forces have slowed down in the past few

decades. A general decline in moral values is witnessed in todays India.

Degeneration is noticeable in almost all walks of life. The diseases of ignorance, selfishness,

corruption, intoleration, casteism, communalism, separatism, opportunism, violence and

rampant commercialization are on the ascendant. Poverty, hunger, malnourishment, illiteracy

and exploitation are still the order of the day. Bad roads, poor water supply & electricity, ever

rising prices, impotent justice system, worsening internal & external security, law & order, theI dont care attitude of politicians and above all the indifference of the Common Man

towards all this.

How long do we allow this disorder to continue?? Should we betray the great sacrifices of our

reformers, freedom fighters and revolutionaries? Is this the India dreamt by the Ram

Mohan Rays, the Vivekanandas , and the Vidyasagars? Is this the India for which the

Lakshmibais, the Bhagat Singhs, the Azads and the Tilaks sacrificed their lives? Is this

the India for which the Gandhis, the Nehrus and the Subhash Boses dedicated there lives to??

Do we let things go to the dogs???

Evil Triumphs, When Good People Sit Quiet.

Rashtrotthan Sankalp Trust(RASTR) is an initiative of the conscious people of India, who

believe in action. Our aim is to cleanse the present rotten social and political system

completely. Rashtrotthan Sankalp is a socio-political movement comprising of people from

different walks of life. We believeChange is Possible and it can be brought about not by talk

alone but by right thought andAction.

Rashtrotthan Sankalp is committed to community and national service. Rashtrotthan Sankalp

has a comprehensive agenda to do just about anything and everything to rid our civilisation of

the malaise that has caught up with it. RASTR provides a platform to all those who are eager to

make a difference to the society by their efforts. RASTR joins forces with all like-minded men,

women and organisations including the government to strive for the goal of a socially,

economically, politically & morally developed India, a transformed, progressive, happy and

prosperous India.

Any material from this publication may be reproduced in the right context with due acknowledgement.

Publishing Cost: Rs. 20

If you think this information is useful & want to help RASTR, pass it on.

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A Public Audit of Beggary Relief System

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