Social Welfare Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary on Monday said the government would strictly enforce the Karnataka Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975, in the State to put an end to begging.
Places identified
The department has identified 50 to 70 areas in Bengaluru where beggary is rampant. The Directorate of Child Protection recently rescued and rehabilitated 101 children who were begging. The Legal Services Authority had submitted a report that had identified 720 children who were into begging, the Minister said, and added that action would be taken based on such inputs.
The Minister made the announcement at a press conference in Bengaluru after holding a meeting on measures to prohibit begging with Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, Women and Child Development Minister Halappa Achar, Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar and senior officials from the Legal Services Authority and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.
Mr. Poojary said the Social Welfare Department had also noticed various illegal activities in the name of begging. It was particularly concerned about vested interests pushing children into begging by administering sedative and banned drugs on them, he said.
In Bengaluru city
Expressing concern over beggary being rampant in Bengaluru city, he said tough measures would be taken to prevent it. Already an action plan had been prepared to act against beggary in Bengaluru by forming special teams in eight zones of the police department.
The Social Welfare Department would soon arrange for a building to rehabilitate children and their mothers who have been rescued from beggary, he said, while remarking that there was no dearth of funds to do so.
Mobile app e-gurutu
The Child Protection Directorate has already developed a mobile app titled e-gurutu to rescue children who have taken to beggary, Social Welfare Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary said, and appealed to the public to pass on the information about children taking to beggary to the authorities concerned by calling the helpline 1098.
