Beggars prefer streets, shelter in a shambles

LUCKNOW: Hundreds of beggars roaming around the markets or stationed in front of temples and places of tourist interest are not only an unseemly sight but also a nuisance for people.

Ask anyone and he/she would promptly say that the beggars should be shifted from the street to a shelter.

According to municipal commissioner Udairaj Singh, it is the duty of the social welfare department to rehabilitate them. Police officials, on their part, ask that if they catch these beggars, where will they be rehabilitated.

The question is pertinent, as the social welfare department is entrusted with the job of running a beggars home in the city. This home is situated in a dilapidated building in Thakurganj. However, no inmate has come here in the past eight years, say officials.

The building is so bad that no one would like to stay inside for a moment. Tall weeds have sprung up on the campus and the place is stinking. The doors are just about to cave in and the floor is breaking up. The officials themselves say that the place is not fit to live, as there is no water supply or toilets.

So, despite its willingness to work for reforming and rehabilitating beggars, the social welfare department cannot do this due to lack of proper infrastructure. Yet, according to insiders, around R 6 lakh were annually spent on the salaries of four employees posted at the beggars’ home.