'I accept what people give at temples, but I am not a beggar'

I never beg for food. I only accept what people offer at temples or gurdwaras,” says Vishal, 62.

Vishal calls himself a  “baba”. He was one of the five persons on remand at the Delhi government’s Reception-cum-Classification Centre (RCC) for male beggars in Kingsway Camp when this reporter visited.

He was picked up near Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk. The raiding team brings ‘offenders’ to the RCC where their details are digitally recorded in the database.

The home introduced biometric system so that they can identify the ‘repeat offenders’. Raids are conducted between 10 am and 1 pm.

The metropolitan magisterate decides on the fate of those arrested in these raids. In most cases, the arrested are let off with a warning and a few days on remand at RCC.

“The home provides food, clothing and medical care till the time the detainees are released,” says Z A Siddiqui, superintendent at Sewa Kutir Complex in Kingsway Camp.
Those convicted of begging are sent to the beggar homes in Lampur, or Tahirpur if they also suffer from leprosy.

Vishal hails from Moradabad and says there is nobody to care for him.  “For many years now, I have been leading this life. I never pay train fares. But I am not a beggar either.”
Once released, he will head to Nashik in Maharashtra. “People are generous with their alms at temples there. In winter, I will go to Amritsar,” says Vishal.

City’s Social Welfare Department officials pointed out the grey areas in the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959.

“It is unfair to arrest people taking in alms when people come and distribute food and money at religious places on occasions. Most of those apprehended do not want to see themselves as beggars as they are only accepting food or money offered to them,” says a senior department official.  

Officials conduct raids mostly around selected areas — Sai Mandir, Hanuman Mandir, Dargah Hazrat Nizammudin, Inter State Bus Terminus, Yamuna Bazar, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi Railway station and the Metro stations. The red lights are usually avoided as beggars start running when they spot the officials, and this may result in accidents.
Officials point out the difficulty in identifying ‘beggars’.

“Delhi receives several people from neighbouring states who live on the pavements looking for work. Often these people are robbed of the little money they bring along and have no option but to ask around for money. If the raiding team finds them asking for alms, it can arrest such people,“ says P K Shukla, raid conducting officer at RCC.

“There are no clear-cut lines drawn between the homeless and the beggars. So many a time those who are not habitual beggars are arrested as well,” he says.

The ‘beggars’ on remand at Kingsway Camp say they were picked to be “harassed”.
“I sell papad at Shivaji Marg. The raiding vehicle randomly picked me up while I was sitting idle. The officers have to return with vehicles full with beggars and so they harass poor people like us,” says Prem Kumar, 56.

Kumar hails from Danapur Cantonment in Bihar. Kumar suffers from hearing problems and claims he came to Delhi for treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). “I spent a few months in Baroda and then Jodhpur before coming to AIIMS.”

Ashok Paswan, 35, who was arrested the day he reportedly reached the capital says he came from Hazaribagh in Bihar. “I was eating food served at a Chandni Chowk temple when they picked me up.”

The raiding team has only one officer at present. Mobile beggar courts also conduct raids. However, with a lack of women officers, the team rarely goes after female beggars.

“For over four months now, there has been no female beggar at the female beggar homes here,” says Vineeta Sharma, superintendent at Nirmal Chhaya Complex.

Officers working for several years are still on contract. “The welfare officers should be given permanent posts at least. There is an acute staff crunch in the department,” says Shukla.

After serving five days on remand, several offenders have no option but to go back to begging. “I will go back to New Delhi Railway station after three days. Of course, I will ask for alms. What else?”