The Madras High Court has issued notices to the Tamil Nadu government, directing it to formulate and explain appropriate steps to prevent the use of children for begging on roads and public spaces. The directive came on Friday during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking action against those who involve minors in begging.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan admitted the plea and suggested the state develop a concrete plan to address the issue.

The petition was filed by R S Tamilvendan, a resident of Kodambakkam, who stated he regularly witnessed women begging at traffic signals and other public places with children in their hands. He raised serious concerns about the welfare and origins of these children.

“Those children are exposed to intense heat and rain. Begging is a crime in our country,” the petitioner said. He urged the court to order authorities to verify “whether women using children for begging are their biological mothers.”

Tamilvendan further highlighted the potential for exploitation, suggesting an investigation was needed to determine “whether the children were stolen from someone else, obtained from a child trafficking gang, or rented for a price.”

Emphasizing the state’s duty, he argued, “It is the duty of the government to at least investigate and take the children to a government shelter to protect their future.” He warned of long-term social consequences, adding, “If the child grows up in such an environment, there is a possibility that they will easily become anti-social in the future.”

The petitioner also requested the court to direct authorities to probe “whether the children are given sleeping pills or drugs to sleep.”

Noting that many of the women involved are not natives of Tamil Nadu, the plea calls for a thorough inquiry into the practice. The court has admitted the petition and awaits the state government’s detailed response on its strategy to curb this exploitation and rehabilitate affected children.

Source: Times of India

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The government of Pakistan has finally decided to criminalise begging following multiple complaints from foreign countries after thousands of Pakistanis abroad have been caught in illegal activities and begging resulting in a major global embarrassment and visa bans for travellers from the country.

As part of the move, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry on Thursday decided to propose addition of the term “organised begging” to the Section 3 of the ‘Prevention of Trafficking in Persons (Amendment) Bill 2024’.

Islamabad has received multiple complaints from foreign countries – especially members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Iraq and Malaysia – about the increasing cases of Pakistani nationals caught begging in their respective countries.

Pakistan’s diplomatic missions have urged a strict action as thousands of Pakistanis who visit these countries for Haj, Umrah, and other religious pilgrimages have been found involved in begging and other criminal activities.

The proposed draft amendment bill also highlights the same issue and maintains that the matter needs to be ingested into a law.

“The agents and gangs who are involved in this practice easily dodge prosecution as begging is not a crime in any law entrusted to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The sensitivity of the issue demands an urgent need to make beggary a crime,” reads the proposed draft amendment.

“The organised beggary includes an act of a person to allure, entice or coerce a person intentionally, knowingly, by use of force, fraud or without fraudulent intention to indulge or to be indulged in soliciting or receiving alms directly, indirectly or on any pretext,” the bill adds.

The Pakistani government has been forced to take the issue seriously after thousands of its citizens have been caught begging in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi government had called on Pakistan to not send beggars, sick people or people without skills to the country.

Pakistan recently put about 4,300 beggars on the no-fly list and assured the Saudi government of strong action against the culprits.

Hundreds of Pakistani nationals have also been deported from the Gulf countries in recent times, most of them found involved in begging or other criminal activities.

On January 15, three beggars were arrested and deported from Saudi Arabia and taken into custody upon their arrival in Karachi. Another beggar was also arrested on his return from Umrah for passport forgery.

The government of Pakistan considers the matter in line with the human trafficking and human smuggling domains, directing officials at the airports to be vigilant while clearing passengers.

As per the directives, an efficient system of profiling passengers travelling from Pakistan to other countries including Azerbaijan, Senegal, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya, Iran, Mauritania, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan should be implemented with an immediate effect.

Strict scrutiny, profiling and monitoring is also being done for travellers from cities like Gujarat, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Bhimber, Jhelum, Toba Tek Singh, Hafizabad and Sheikhupura.

–IANS

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The Mumbai High Court in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed has said that beggars must also work and that the government can’t keep providing everything which will only increase the number of beggars in the country.

A man named Brijesh Arya had filed a PIL seeking an order from the Mumbai Municipal Corporation to ensure that homeless beggars in Mumbai have access to three meals a day, clean drinking water and hygienic public toilets. The bench comprising Chief Justice of Mumbai High Court Dipankar Dutta and Justice GS Kulkarni heard the case.

The Bombay Municipal Corporation said that all poor, simple homeless beggars in Mumbai are provided with food parcels with the help of voluntary organizations and women are provided with sanitary napkins. The argument of the corporation was accepted by the court.

The court said that there was no need of providing any further assistance than this adding that beggars must also work for the good of the country.

“They should also work for the country. Everyone is working. Everything cannot be provided free by the state. You are just increasing the population of this section of the society.” they court said adding that granting all the demands mentioned in the petition would only become an incentive to not work.

The court however directed the state government to consider if the public toilets can be made use of homeless persons free of charge.

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