March 28 : An ambitious proposal by Lions Club has the potential to rid this entire district of beggars, provided the administration puts its seal on it. The move to do away with begging comes in the wake of the menace plaguing Dibrugarh town apart from the regulation on prevention of begging under the Assam Children Act. The board of directors of Lions Club has put forward the proposal before the district administration. Members of Lions Club of Dibrugarh and its former office bearers, led by former president of the club, Kanakeswar Sensowa, have resolved to take up the campaign to eradicate begging in the district and rehabilitate destitute children. Beggars and ragpickers of all ages, irrespective of gender and ethnic affiliation, have long plagued the city. The hapless beggars can be seen on busy roads, at marketplaces, bus stops, parking sites and railway stations on a regular basis. “A few even make their way into workplaces like offices, educational and business establishments, besides restaurants and residences”, Sensowa said. A senior official of the district administration said a number of issues have to be looked into before accepting the proposal. The fact that the beggars appear all of a sudden in the morning and disappear in the evening has raised suspicions about unscrupulous individuals promoting begging in an organised manner. “There must be a covert organisation that is operating the business and we will have to stop this. There are a lot of activities going onin Dibrugarh town with two ambitious projects — the gas cracker and the Bogibeel bridge — coming up. We need to keep the town free of such a menace”, Sensowa added. Under the Assam Children Act, if a police officer or any other person authorised by the state government is of the opinion that a person is apparently a neglected child, they may take charge of that person and bring him before the child welfare board. Many children seen begging are also habituated towards drug addiction in mild forms. The Lions Club has pledged to enforce Sections 10 (that deals with incurable, helpless beggars) and 11 of the Prevention of Begging Act, 1964. The members have asked for the location of a certified institution, if there is any, to rehabilitate the destitute, particularly women, children and the elderly from among the beggars. “Otherwise, we will seek permission from the administration to establish an institution on our own along with a project for an old age home,” Sensowa added. |
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