From degree holders to beggars: The story of educated beggars in India.
By: Akhil Bharampuram
Tags: Indian Education, India, Beggar, Indian Policy, Unemployment

Source: Youngisthan.in

The Census 2011 data on ‘Non-workers by main activity and education level’ has exposed that India has more than 3 lakh beggars of whom 21% are educated. As per The Times of India report, these beggars have finished education till 12th standard. But what is contemptable is that despite having a basic education, they have failed to get an employment for themselves which left them with only choice of beggary. People with degrees stepping into begging replicates the grim employment situation. People turn to asking alms when they do not get proper jobs and have no societal sustenance to fall back on. What one misses in this is begging is beyond an earning and there is a dark side of beginning industry in the form a mafia.

The Beggars Stats

According to the data on ‘Non-workers by main activity and education level” of 2011 released by Thawar Chand Gehlot of Ministry of Social justice and empowerment, that there are numerous beggars who are graduated with marks and degrees i.e. they are graduates, post-graduates and even the Diploma holders. Now-a-days, it isn’t shocking if we come across roadside beggars who can converse in English while begging. Statistics revealed that there are more than 3.75 Lakh beggars in India including 2.21 lakh males and 1.91 females’ beggars in the country. And out of them, at-least 21% are beggars are class XII passed outs. And there are more than 3000 beggars who hold a professional degree in diploma courses. In fact, even the graduates and post graduates aren’t less (Zeenews India, 2015).

West Bengal tops the chart with the highest number of beggars with 81,000 among the overall figure. Uttar Pradesh (65,900) and Bihar (30,800) at number two and three positions respectively. Andhra Pradesh (30,300) Madhya Pradesh (28,700) and Rajasthan (26,000) are at number four, five and six in the list. The data shows there are lesser number of beggars in Union Territories. While Lakshadweep has only two beggars, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have only 20, 25 and 50 people respectively begging for their sustenance. And among the union territories, Delhi tops the list with 2,300 beggars followed by 121 in the country’s most planned city Chandigarh. Among the north-eastern states, Assam topped the chart with 22,000 beggars, while Mizoram ranked low with 55 beggars. Strangely, the number female beggars have out beaten the male beggars in the north eastern states (Chief Data Officer, 2011).

In a southern state like Karnataka, the census revealed that there were 10,700 beggars spread all over the 30 districts of the state. The maximum number of people seeking alms was in the Bangalore (1,400). It isn’t just the IT segment that seems to be enticing people to India’s Silicon Valley but begging seems to be a lucrative occupation these days for people coming from rural areas. 80 beggars are graduates and another 30 beggars have attained diplomas. In fact, a total of 195 beggars have studied up to Class X and Class XII in the city. In Mysuru, commonly known as the heritage city, there are 170 graduates, postgraduates and diploma holders, with 70 women, begging on the streets. Mysuru has the second highest number of “educated” beggars with 15 graduates (Naik, 2017).

Educated beggars are strangely found even in the state with highest literacy rate, Kerala. The statistics available with the Registrar General of India disclose that 42% of the beggars in Kerala are literate. As per the reports, Kerala has 3,800 beggars on its roads and among them 1,600 are educated. The statistics noted that 1,200 are literate but below class X. Among them, 200 are under graduation, 20 have diplomas, 30 are post-graduates and one among them is a female (Arun, 2017).

Why Begging?

Undoubtedly, several state and central governments tried their best to make India free from beggars, but it was these people who refused to come out of it. According to the beggars, the money begging can provide is unmatchable to the earning any person gets from a regular 9–5 job. Ghastlier thing is that, even the educated individuals are not ready to leave begging behind and take up a decent job. Henceforth, this generates a different perspective in the minds of people below the poverty line. Few beggars opened that they picked beggary not because they relish it, but it is all because they had no other choice. They trust that even the graduate degree and educational qualification standards aren’t serving them to make a career. In short, beggary was the lone source of revenue for people like them. Many national and government educationalists believe that the absenteeism of collaboration between the employments is the key reason for this state today. However, few people say that in India, begging is habitually mistaken. It has constantly been seen that initially, beggars used to beg as they really had no other opportunity, but as time passed, they took it as a profession that gives them an earning and business for their long-term benefits. “It’s hard to rehabilitate beggars as they get ensnared back due to easy money,” says Biren Joshi of Manav Sadhana, an NGO working with beggars (Kaushik, 2015).

An official in the social welfare department cited an example of a beggar in Bangalore, who is usually seen in posh areas like Mahatma Gandi Road and Indira Nagar. “He falls under the smart beggar group. He reaches people and tells them about his family difficulties. We got to know that he earns more than Rs 15,000 every month. In his old job as a factory worker, he earned just Rs 5,000 a month. Most of the educated beggars like him told us that they make more through begging than monotonous jobs,” the official said. Many sociologists believe monetary and political bribery as the main reason for this (Think Change India, 2017).

A person was employed in a local infirmary as a ward boy after not getting a job as per his merit. Later, he left that job and got into begging. He is presently earning more than earlier and has also built a group of 30 beggars. Farzona, a 50-year-old MBA graduate, was lately found begging in Hyderabad. She worked as an account officer in UK, she shifted to her architect son’s residence in Anandbagh after the death of her husband. When she approached a godman to seek out help for her disturbed life, he told her to live the life of a beggar to turn her luck around. Rabiya Baseera, a 44-year-old woman and a green card holder in America, was cheated by her own family, who took away all her money. Thus, she was forced to choose begging and was found begging near a masjid in Hyderabad. Another man, hailing from Guntur district in Andhra, had to leave his college halfway due to poor economic conditions in his family. After shifting to Mumbai, he got a job but as a daily worker. He is forced to get into begging to take care of his parents. Of late, a video clip of a Chinese undergraduate begging on the roads went viral on social media platform. He was holding a billboard asking bystanders to finance in him rather than a beggar. His billboard also said that he would give back the money to the financiers once he became financially independent. He also carried a notebook with him to record the particulars of the benefactors and supporters (Kaushik, 2015).

Begging Mafia in India

While poverty is real, begging is quite commonly carried out in organized gangs. For the privilege of begging in a specific area, each beggar passes over their incomes to the gang’s leader, who keeps a substantial share of it. Beggars have also been known to intentionally mutilate and deface themselves to get more money. Moreover, many children are kidnapped in India and pushed into begging. The statistics are disturbing. According to the Indian National Human Rights Commission, up to 35,000 children are snatched every year. The location of more than 8,000 of them remain unidentified. Its projected that 200,000 children across India are drugged, trodden and forced to beg every day. It’s a multi-million-dollar business which is controlled by human trafficking syndicates. Police do very little to report these issues as they often presume that the children are with family members or friends who know them. Additionally, there are discrepancies in the law on how to handle the issue of child beggars. They are too young to be penalized. Moderately a bit of social welfare work in India has been focused at plummeting begging, including giving small jobs to the beggars, with variable notches of success. But, the main common problem is that the beggars are so much used to begging that they opt not to work with respect as they earn low (Sharmaa, 2016).

The CNN-IBN news channel carried out an enquiry and trapped three medics on video approving to surgically remove limbs of child beggars for as low as 5,000 rupees. Though, the price usually ranges between 15,000 to 20,000 rupees. The doctors would characteristically sew the muscles closed which causes infection then they would sever the chosen leg after two days. The motive they choose to cut off the children’s legs is because incapacitated children get in more currency since onlookers feel more sympathetic for them. People are unaware of the fact that begging is not permitted in India; begging is illegal (begging act 1959) by law in India. Begging is vigorous in India due to the religious nature of India and by outsiders or visitors who feel bad for beggars due to effect of movies like Slumdog millionaire on a global scale (FE Online, 2018).

Portrayal on Silver Screen

Pichaikkaaran, a 2016 Indian Tamil-language film deals with the story of a rich businessman who lives the life of a beggar for 48 days as per the direction given by a godman to save his mother, who unexpectedly becomes comatose after an accident and the doctors are unable to help her (Bhaskaran, 2016). Naan Kadavul, a 2009 Indian Tamil-language art film written and directed by Bala. The movie emphases on the world of physically and mentally challenged beggars, controlled by the antagonist, who runs a lucrative beggar mafia business using physically disabled young, old and children to get compassion from the pilgrims and visitors who visit the temple. The director of the movie, Bala has won two National Film Awards, including the Best Director Award for brilliantly depicting the dark and distressing side of the beggar mafia in places around religious institutions in the country (Moviebuzz, 2009). Traffic Signal, a 2007 Bollywood social drama film written and directed by Madhur Bhandarkar shows the lives and struggles of people living around a traffic signal point in Mumbai. A trivial world exists around traffic signals, with a pecking order of its own including the beggars, vendors, prostitutes, petty burglars, all report to the traffic signal manager, who is under an area in charge, and the chain goes all the way up to begging mafia (Deepa Gahlot, 2007).

Efforts being put to solve this issue

Earlier attempts to deal with street inhabitants and beggars, who form the mainstream of India’s burgeoning homeless populace, has not borne anticipated fruits. The social facets of the pennilessness problem are further strengthened by the huge fiscal divide between diverse classes, particularly in urbanite cities like Delhi and Mumbai, where begging is a disciplinary felony. Beggars and street residents habitually are sent to government households, but unavoidably end up on streets yet again for the lack of enough capitals. The only example for this scheme transpires to be a program initiated by the Maharashtra government, prior this year, which designed at integrating 55,000 of the beggars into the state’s labor force. The Delhi-government is arranging to unveil a vocational training program for those living in miserable poverty. The initiative targets at executing a feasible vocational training program, whereby, beggars presently housed in administration housing will be trained in tailoring, handiworks and other essential skills to pass in the job market. Those who enroll will be rewarded with Rs. 250 daily for food and allotted official identity cards which will expectantly persuade others to take part in the program as well. The scheme also desires to gift related kits, like stitching machines, to those who effectively finishes the course and enable them to set their autonomous businesses up (Mitra, 2018). In a bid to acclimatize beggars and progress the ease of their life, the Lucknow municipal corporation has decided to provide basic employment to them basing on their educational qualifications. CM Yogi Adityanath had ordered the LMC to recognize beggars in the capital and relocate them to shelter homes as a part of the reintegration of the impoverished. The responsibilities given to them will consist of collecting user charges for door-to-door trash collection from the homes and sanitation works in the city (India Today, 2019). Despite all the above measures, the issue of educated beggars remains the same from the past few years and more feasible steps should be taken by the state and central governments.

References

1. Agency inputs. (2015, Dec). Sorry state of affairs: India has 75000 educated beggars. Zeenews India.

2. Chief Data Officer. (2011). Non-workers by main activity by age and sex, Census 2011 — India and States. Data.Gov.in

3. Naik, Mamta. (2017, December). Not Poor but The Graduates And Post Graduates Are Also Begging on The Streets!. Youngisthan.

4. M, Arun. (2017, January). Oh you bugger! Kerala beggars are degree holders. The New Indian Express.

5. Kaushik, Himanshu. (2015, December). 75,000 of country’s beggars are 12th pass outs. Times of India.

6. Think Change India. (2017, December). Why are these people begging despite having professional degrees?. Yourstory.

7. Sharmaa, Akhil. (2016, Oct). Beggar Mafia in India. Medium.

8. FE Online. (2018, August). What is the beggary act? What changes after the Delhi High Court verdict?. Financial Express.

9. Bhaskaran, Gautaman. (2016, March). Pichaikkaran review: This film is begging for authenticity. Hindustan Times.

10. Moviebuzz. (2009, February). Review: Naan Kadavul. Sify.

11. Deepa Gahlot. (2007, February). Review: Traffic Signal. Sify.

12. Mitra, Prarthana. (2018, June). Delhi government’s new education drive: Beggars to get vocational training. Qrius.

13. Asian News International. (2019, July). Lucknow MC to give employment to beggars based on their educational qualifications. India Today.