“Begging is a crime not just an act it should be banned not just stopped”
(Shehnaz Arshad )
When you stand at a traffic signal or even at a religious place , railway station or any other crowded place you see a lot of faces called beggars .Begging in Pakistan is not something new to our society ,the elder’s, disabled , women’s with babies & even kids are frequently seen begging around , which is now become a profession for these people.
When economist’s talks about any activity related to money, they always discussed “The Opportunity Cost “of an action. The opportunity cost of an action is what you have to give up doing in order to do that action e.g. if you give a rupee to a beggar , the cost of opportunity is the charity and education of poor kids that could have been done using that rupee, So you should not give you should give effectively. According to economists “The peoples who are voluntarily unemployed like beggars are the burden on economy” because they are not producing anything else or providing any service.
Some people are begging by volunteer action e.g. a person who could have 500 rupee a day by labor might give up his work. Similarly A beggar can earn 1000 a day by begging in order to play on people’s emotions and earn more money. In result the future of child is ruined it leads to prostitution, drug addiction and other crimes. It also may lead to various other crimes like kidnapping of children’s, injuring and deforming people and increasing the racket of beggars.
Begging is a crime in Pakistan under “THE [PUNJAB] VAGRANCY ORDINANCE, 1958 (W.P. Ordinance XX of 1958)”
Islamabad police claim to have launched a crackdown, but Haroon Yahya, a senior police official in Rawalpindi, says arrests are pointless.
“It has become so lucrative that they do not care about arrest or imprisonment for a month,” Yahya told AFP.
“Most of them are now working in groups and protect each other. Police have busted many gangs, but after some time they again regroup,” he said.
The law that prohibits beggary and gives the powers to arrest to the police has 60 years old. However, the increasing presence of beggars at shrines, on the roads, or in the markets, is proof that the police have not yet been mobilized to begin a crackdown on the mafia.
Pakistan has pretty good laws to control beggary in spite of this the problem sustain, Now this a time to take some serious measures in this regard. Government or Police should take them to places where they get food medication and whatever they need. We need to attack at the root of this racket. Police should approach this issue as a social problem, as a personality problem, they should be counseling by proper rehabilitation and educational facilities perhaps the emphasis should be on these aspects rather than treating them as criminal.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
(Nelson Mandela)
Do not support this crime bring an END to it.
Report on
BEGGING IN PAKISTAN
By
Shehnaz Arshad PSA
BS (HONS) Economics (University of Gujrat)