Child Begging in India: A Comprehensive Solution
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In January 2018, 33 children (28 girls and 5 boys, aged 5 to 15) were rescued from another orphanage in Hyderabad called ‘Gracious Paradise.’ These children were kept in filthy, cramped rooms after school hours and forced to beg on the streets. An official investigation revealed that the orphanage operator, Vijay Satyanand, took advantage of poor families by promising education for their children. Instead, he packed them into tiny, unclean rooms and made them beg. The children’s living conditions were found to be chaotic and neglected. The rooms were dirty, with little to no cleanliness, and the kids lived in an unhealthy environment without enough food or proper healthcare. The police reported that the children were stuffed into small, overcrowded rooms, leading to chaotic and unhygienic conditions. Many of them fell ill, and a report noted that several children had become weak due to malnutrition.
This is a nationwide issue, as children are seen begging on the streets in many places. According to a Human Rights Commission report, around 3 lakh children in India are forced to beg every day. Many of them are beaten or given drugs to make them beg more effectively. Some gangs even injure the children deliberately to make them look more pitiful, hoping it will evoke sympathy from passersby.
In these ashrams, rescued children were brutally exploited. The operators would abandon the children at unfamiliar city junctions in the morning and bring them back to the ashram in the evening. The kids were forced to beg for hours without any physical support, and whatever money they collected had to be handed over to the operator. There were also allegations that children were often given rags or boxes to hold to evoke sympathy and get more money from passersby. For instance, in the Hyderabad case, children revealed they were sent to beg even in heavy rain or scorching heat and were brought back only late in the evening. From a legal standpoint, this issue was extremely serious. In the 2018 Hyderabad incident, the police filed a case against the operator under Section 79 of the Juvenile Justice Act, which penalizes forcing children to beg. Such rackets often operate with fake licenses or without any permission, which naturally raises serious concerns.
After these incidents, the police and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) took immediate action. In the 2016 Hyderabad raid, a criminal case was filed against the accused, James, and the rescued children were sent to Child Care Institutions (CCIs). In the January 2018 "Gracious Paradise" case, the authorities quickly took 33 children into protective custody and moved them to a government-run children's home. Similar operations were carried out in cities like Pune and Bangalore. For example, in 2011, the Bangalore police launched "Operation Raksha," rescuing over 300 children in a single day and cracking down on the gangs involved. The culprits were arrested and sent to jail.
Where Does the Money You Give to a Begging Child on the Street Really Go? How Much Do These Children Earn in a Day? How Does This Massive Begging Racket Operate?
First, we need to understand who these kids are and why they’re out there begging. Back in 2022, the Institute for Human Development, along with the Delhi government’s Department of Social Welfare, released a report. It said there are two main reasons people beg: they’re either forced into it or they choose it. Most folks—about 62%—start begging because of poverty. Around 45% do it because they can’t find work, 12% because they’re elderly, 9% due to disability or illness, 6% because they’re widows, and 3% because of drug addiction. The report also mentioned that the COVID pandemic pushed many people toward begging after they lost their jobs.
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴?
Mafia gangs target the most vulnerable people, especially children, because they are easy to manipulate. First, children are kidnapped or trafficked. Poor families are often tricked with false promises, and their children are sold to these mafias. According to a report by *Live Law* on August 22, 2016, around 60,000 children go missing in India every year, and many are forced into begging. Families with no income sometimes "rent out" their children to beg. These children are unaware of their basic rights or education, and no one informs them about these things.
The mafia keeps children hungry to make them look weak and thin, so people feel pity and give more money. Begging mafias treat begging like a business, aiming to collect as much money as possible and control the children completely. Gangs divide areas among themselves and know the best places to beg, like near temples, mosques, train stations, or bus stands where crowds gather.
According to a 2010 *Indian Express* report, a 13-year-old boy named Bhimfa shared that a woman saw him and an 8-year-old girl begging in the rain at a traffic signal. Feeling sorry for them, she gave them 100 rupees. The mafia realized this emotional tactic worked, so they deliberately sent children to beg in the rain. This led to the death of a 2-year-old girl named Puja due to harsh conditions.
Another story is about a 14-year-old boy named Javed, who begs near the Hanuman Temple in Delhi’s Connaught Place. He earns some money daily and gives a portion to a "friend," which traps him in debt. The mafia only gives drugs to children when they hand over all the money they earn. Sometimes, these begging mafias are supported by political powers. In Andhra Pradesh, when NGOs tried to rescue children, local politicians protected the mafia, as reported by *The Indian Express* in 2017. NGOs said it was very hard to work due to political pressure.
In 2009, a strange case came up in Bengaluru. A nanny, who worked for wealthy families, would dress their children in torn clothes, drug them, and rent them out to begging gangs for 150 rupees. The families thought their children were safe and happy with the nanny, but she was exploiting them.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀?
In independent India, the first law against begging was the *Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959*. It allowed up to 10 years of punishment for anyone caught begging. In 2018, the Delhi High Court declared some parts of this law unconstitutional and said begging is not a crime. The court stated that people don’t beg by choice but because it’s their last option to survive. It added that the government’s duty is to provide basic facilities to all citizens, and the presence of beggars shows the government has failed to do so.
The central government has not made a nationwide law against begging. However, the *Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015*, under Section 76(j), makes it illegal to force children to beg. This can lead to up to 5 years in jail and a fine of up to one lakh rupees. In 2021, the Supreme Court was asked to ban begging, but it refused, saying it’s a socio-economic issue.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀?
The real solution is to rescue children who are forced to beg and place them in government-run shelters or child care homes for some time. After that, it should be decided whether they can be sent back to their families or not. If not, the government should strengthen child care institutions to provide these children with better opportunities for work in the future. Simply banning begging is not a solution. As long as there is high unemployment, lack of jobs, and fewer opportunities for disabled people to participate in the economy, the problem will persist.
Governments should declare begging a non-criminal act, expand welfare schemes, and focus on providing quality education. These schemes need regular review, and rehabilitation should be done in a way that helps people gain a respectable place in society.
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