A Public Audit of Beggary Relief System
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Transcript of A Public Audit of Beggary Relief System
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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
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
Afsalpur Road, Vijapur
Ph.: (95)8352-271665
3 BallarySuperindent, Nirashritara Parihara KendraBaddihatti, Aaladahalli Road, Kaubjar, Ballary
Ph.: 9886612469
4 Belagavi
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
Mukkam post, Machche Taluk, Belagavi
Ph.: (95)831-2930217
5 Chitradurga
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
Near Railway Station, Sadanandayya Layout, Chitradurga
Ph.: (95)8194-220258
6 Davanagere
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
Turuchigatta Gomal, Belavanur Post, Davanagere
Ph.: (95)8192-260271
7 Gulburga
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
Biddapur Colony, Gabbur Road, Gulburga
Ph.: (95)8472-251369
8Hubballi-
Dharwad
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
Rayapur, Hubballi-Dharawad
Ph.: (95)836-2224028
9 Kolar
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
Tamak Post, National Highway Bypass, Kolar
Ph.: (95)8152-210167
10 Mysooru
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
Jyoti nagar, Mysooru
Ph.: (95)821-2473767
11 Mangalooru
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
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
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
Tyavarekoppa, Sagar Road, Koteganangur Post,
Shivamogga
Ph.: (95)8182-233713
14 Tumkur
Superindent, Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
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
buildingNo No No No NA
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
buildingNo No No No NA
13 Shivamogga 29 Yes No No No 11 bore-well,
Office bldg.
14 Tumkur 2Rented
buildingNo No No No NA
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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!!!!
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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