LAHORE, June 21: In an admittedly ambitious venture, the city police on Thursday launched clampdown on professional beggars amid qualms about a positive outcome of the initiative.
“Operation against beggars cannot be started properly owing to the police force’s engagement with law and order duties,” the remarks came from none other than the capital city police officer (additional IG) Malik Muhammad Iqbal.
On Thursday — the first day of the campaign — the police claimed arresting 28 beggars, six of them women, in various parts of the city. But a random survey of different roads, important crossings and commercial markets revealed that the beggars as usual roamed about freely and the police officials did not appear to take action against them.
Officials at some police stations claimed that they did have detained beggars. “We have caught seven professional beggars, including two women, and registered four cases against them under the Beggary Act,” said Faisal Town duty officer Salamat.
“We will fulfill our social responsibility by taking action against the beggars and assist the departments concerned,” he said.
The IGP directed the capital city police to launch campaign against professional and healthy male and female beggars and those old and destitute under the Punjab Beggary Ordinance 1958, and the beggars aged 15 and less under the Punjab Destitute Children Act 2004.
The major crossings where beggars swarm include Charing Cross, Kalma Chowk, Mozang Chowk, Shadman Chowk, Main Boulevard Gulberg, signals of Canal Road, Lorry Adda, Azadi Chowk, Chowk Yateem Khana and commercial markets like Liberty, Main Market, The Mall, Anarkali and Model Town Link Road.
They usually come on roads and crossings at the time of signal closure, beg money and create traffic problems. In markets, the beggars visit almost all shops and catch motorists at parking lots without any check by the law enforces.
“I have been here at the Qadhafi Stadium Chowk and Kalma Chowk on the Main Ferozepur Road since 12 noon, but no police official turned up here to stop me or others from begging,” said disabled Waqas Younis.
Waqas, who earns Rs250 a day, says if the police stop him from begging on roads, he will prefer some bazaar and in case of problem even there he will be left with no option but to consider some other profession.
Bashiran Bibi said she had been begging at the Main Market for the last three hours, but no police official came to him and stopped her. She usually begs on Ferozepur Road near the Lahore General Hospital and in some parts of Gulberg.
“If the police have to stop me and other deserving people from begging, the government must compensate us with monthly stipends,” she said, adding that she had only two daughters and her husband had married another woman.
A traffic warden, asking not to be named, said he had witnessed four beggars moving around the vehicles at Kalma Chowk but no police official turned up there to take action against them.
Child Protection and Welfare Bureau director Zubair Ahmad Shad told Dawn that according to a three-day survey conducted by the CP&WB some time back, an average 200 beggars of all ages were found on one main road of the city. The number reduced to 100 and 50 at different timings and days.
He said his department launched a survey to assess the total number of children in the city in 2004 and found approximately 4,000 children begging on city roads.
He admitted that it was difficult to collect data about all the beggars operating in the city because of their speedy movement.