SURVEY ON BEGGARS

As per Census 2011, there are 4,13,670 beggars and vagrants in the country. The State-wise information is given in Annexure.A Meeting was held with some of the NGOs/Experts/States working in the field of beggary for Comprehensive rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging on 14.01.2020. After the discussion, Ministry had initiated pilot project on Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging in seven (7) cities namely Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow, Nagpur and Patna. These pilots are being implemented with the support of State Governments/UTs/Local Urban Bodies and Voluntary Organizations etc., which provide comprehensive measures including survey and identification, mobilization, rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, awareness generation, counseling, education, skill development and sustainable settlement of persons engaged in begging.Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formulated a scheme “SMILE – Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise”, which includes a sub-scheme – ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging’. This scheme covers several comprehensive measures including welfare measures for persons who are engaged in the act of begging. The focus of the scheme is extensively on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counseling, basic documentation, education, skill development, economic linkages and so on.                                                Annexure

This information was given by Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr.Virendra Kumar in the Lok Sabha in a written reply today.