New Delhi: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has publicly called off the plan of the social welfare department, in the charge of cabinet minister Sandeep Kumar, to embark on an ‘anti-begging drive’, calling it an “inhuman” and “futile” exercise. “Most inhuman n futile exercise that social welfare dept cud think of. Am directing them to stop it immediately,” Kejriwal tweeted in what was a very public rebuke to the minister in-charge. It is learnt that immediately after this, Kumar directed his team to scrap the proposal. Earlier, on the directions of the minister’s office, the department of social welfare had been asked to form around 10 teams which were to be tasked with picking up beggars from across the city and producing them before a metropolitan magistrate. The magistrate would then decide whether to let them off or send them to beggar homes, sources said. It is learnt from reliable sources that the minister’s office was coordinating for the drive that was scheduled to take off on Monday but the head of the department, secretary, social welfare, had not been consulted. The issue of making Delhi ‘beggar-free’ has been a matter of debate as there is no proper rehabilitation mechanism for beggars who are sent to beggar homes. Hence, for some years now, the state has been reluctant to round up beggars. Social activist Harsh Mander, who has worked for the city's homeless over the years, criticised the plan, saying the same strategy was adopted before Commonwealth Games, resulting in disastrous consequences. “There are two ways to make a city beggar-free. One is to create a social security system for vulnerable and destitute people and the other is to drive them out. A threat is used to frighten people away. The same thing had happened before CWG when a large number of people ran away in panic,” Mander told PTI.