ANTI BEGGING LAWS IN INDIA
Protection of life and personal liberty is the Art 21 of the Constitution of India which gives a right to be treated with dignity, right to clean environment, right to medical aid, right to life and personal liberty, right to pollution free water, right to education to every citizen of India but does it really happen? Does every citizen is treated with dignity? The answer to both the questions is no. India is a poor country and poverty bring begging, but there are few more reasons like low literacy, increasing population, high unemployment etc. and you can see all of these in India. So, as you can infer that begging is very common practice in India and other countries like India. In India you can find beggars outside any temple, mosque, busy red light or any other public place where there is high footfall. What is begging in the eyes of law? Does a beggar have right, or their rights doesn’t even matter? Does there is any scope of rehabilitation for beggars? How legislation in India deals with them?
In section 363A of IPC, begging is defined as :-
(i) soliciting or receiving alms in a public place, whether under the pretence of singing, dancing, fortune-telling, performing tricks or selling articles or otherwise;
(ii) entering on any private premises for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms;
(iii) exposing or exhibiting, with the object of obtaining or extorting alms, any sore, wound, injury, deformity or disease, whether of himself or of any other person or of an animal;
(iv) using a minor as an exhibit for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms”
Begging can be of many kinds forceful, under coercion, willingly, out of laziness, out of necessity etc and according to which there can be different kind of begging, for someone it is to earn a living for other it might be forceful and under coercion or just an easy way to make money. There is just a slight difference in each one of them and it is very hard to recognize which kind of beggar is asking your help as even the fake one can even be more intimidating than the genuine one.
In India certainly there is no central governing law for anti-begging or to prevent begging, however there are different acts of different states made for this particular issue which are as follows –
(i) The Hyderabad Prevention of Beggary Act, 1942
(ii)The Madras Prevention of Beggary Act, 1945
(iii) The Travancore Prohibition of Begging Act, 1945
(iv) The Bombay Prevention of Beggary Act, 1945
(v) The Bengal Vagrancy Act, 1945
(vi) The Cochin Vagrancy Act, 1945
(vii) The Mysore Prevention of Beggary Act, 1945
(viii) The Bhopal Prevention of Beggary Act, 1947
(ix) The Bihar Prevention of Beggary Act, 1952
Apart from these Acts there is some centrally governed provision for anti – begging. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 is one of them. The reason for its enactment is to discourage this practice of begging, but while drafting it the law makers abused their power and instead of a good law, they made a foul law filled with ultra virus. This provision provides for an imprisonment of the convict of beggary up to 10 years which is equivalent of the punishment of murder i.e. up to 10 years and more than that of rape i.e. 7 years. Moreover this amendment says that any convict of beggary can be arrested without any kind of warrant and also can be sent to jail or any other shelter without trail.
The legislation of India is very harsh on the beggars and treats them like criminals like rapists and murderers, instead of being so hard on them, locking them up in jail, and wasting resources of the nation and taxpayers’ money, the government can deal with situation more politely. The government should treat different kind of beggars differently and for that, government can build counseling centers and provide free counseling to the beggars and try to analyze that which type of beggars are they and treat them accordingly. The beggars who are begging because of necessity should be sent to old age homes, mental asylums, hospitals, care centres and institutions to help them, it will save the pain of jail for them, and state like India which is a welfare state can also be able to live up to the name and status of its position. The beggars who are begging for making easy money can be given an ultimatum to work or to go to the prison, for these beggars the government can open some SLG (Self Help Groups) in which they can unite and help each other out by making an alliance. These self help groups can consist of 5 to 6 members or families and start their own small business like fruit selling or can work as house maids, car washers etc and in the time of need, if one member needs financial help others can help him out and he can return that in some time. And for the beggars begging under coercion (especially minors) can be taken be taken to psychologist and can be treated and also with their help the whole racket can be struck down chain by chain and then these kids can either be sent back to their families or sent to orphanages where they can complete their studies and become a valuable asset to the nation. There should be a proper, centrally governed law which provides proper rehabilitation of beggars and helps the nation by removing this system of beggary from the nation.