AN ORGANISED CASTE SYSTEM
THE UNDIGNIFIED SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD
Its
been a quite common phenomenon in the daily life of a common Delhiite
especially for those using the metro for commute, that a group of small
children falls on our feet demanding for in most of the cases money , As we all
are the citizens who comply to the instructions written over our public
places, and complying to instruction written at the metro station
“to not encourage beggars” , we all leave them acting unnoticed , it is also
true that if you stop by and gave them money that might not be helping them. But seldom we think why do these children are
subjected to beggary .
Its an irony
that whenever we stop by and ask about their education they wont reply back ,
in most of the cases the reply would be
a silence or “ paisa de doona saab” ,
its not wrong to think if they are trained in this way or not. While the
poverty is real in India the reality of begging is different in most of the
cities, the beggary has been an organised way of livelihood for many , this has
led to extreme atrocities against children as they grab more public sentiments.
According to a
report of ministry of social justice there 4,13,670 beggars in India in which
2.2lakh males and 1.91 females , West Bengal has the most around 80,000. According
to Indian Human Rights Commission up to 40,000 children’s are abducted
every year ,and around 300,000 children’s are drugged, beaten and subjected to
beggary across the cities. According to government census results 2011, there
are 30 beggars for 1 lakh citizens of India, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh tops the list
and more beggars with disabilities are in West Bengal, and the number of
beggars are been relatively high in north Indian states . According to Bombay prevention
of begging act BPBA(1959), begging has been criminalised in cities like Bombay
and Delhi, but recently Delhi high court in its recent judgement has decriminalised
it in the national capital , “Begging is
their last resort to subsistence; they have no other means to survive,” a bench
of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar noted ,
declaring 25 sections of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, which have been
extended to Delhi, as “unconstitutional”.
But the question is that isn’t it leading to a vicious
cycle that a group of people with their children is always into beggary while
their future generations are also pursuing this as a livelihood , doesn’t it
reminds us the once prevailed caste system in India where your occupation is
determined by your birth , which type of family are you born to . These children’s
doesn’t even have the liberty to dream of a better life and education or we can
say they are brought up in such a manner that they get conditioned to beggary
as a source of livelihood . As Dr BR Ambedkar said “Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of its
social democracy”. India as a nation have to address this and have to
focus on inclusive development , but one cannot simply wash his hands claiming
this duty on government only , governance is as much of the citizens as it is
of government .
But what can citizens do to address this
issue ? . In the light
of this Kerala has shown a good example, city corporations anti begging squad
with help of locals picked up those seeking alms in the city and shifted to its
beggar rehabilitation centre at kalladimugham and most have been found to have
families and home. There had been a move in Kannur where youths hands over children’s
found to be begging to police and to shift them to rehabilitation centres .
Social justice minister K Shailaja had told the assembly that kerala
government is recently Planning to pilot a law to prohibit child labour and
begging in the state. Operation Sarana Balyam which is a project of Social
Justice department had succeded in rescuing 41 childrens engaged in various
forms of child labour .
As our busy
life goes by, we as a citizens are least considered about this social menace
prevailing in the urban parts of India , we should ask ourselves what is the
reason that these children’s are born in such conditions and why didn’t we .
After 71 years of independence of this nation there still a lot of people
who are unknowingly get trapped in the vicious circle of poverty and it becomes
impossible to drag them out of it without the interference of the society as a
whole.
Rohit Sree
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