Kejri ticks off minister, stops anti- begging drive
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday halted his social welfare minister Sandeep Kumar’s plan to embark on an “anti- begging drive”, calling it an “inhuman” and “futile” exercise.
Mr Kejriwal’s direction over Twitter to stop the planned move “immediately” caught Mr Kumar, who has been pushing for the drive over the last few weeks, unawares. “Most inhuman n futile exercise that social welfare dept cud think of. Am directing them to stop it immediately,” Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
Immediately after Mr Kejriwal’s outburst on the microblogging site in the morning, Mr Kumar is learnt to have directed his team to wind up the proposal.
The minister had formed 10 teams which were 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.
“The issue is more complex and has to be dealt with more sensitively. And the blueprint prepared by the minister had conceptual flaws which was bound to create controversy,” an official said.
Social activists who have worked for the city’s homeless over the years had criticised the plan, saying the same strategy was adopted before the Commonwealth Games, resulting in disastrous consequences.