Plight of beggars in colony moves CM
It is a ratio of 1:922 at the Beggars’ Colony in Bangalore. One doctor for 922 residents, of whom nearly 402 are elders above the age of 60 and 124 are mentally unstable.
These shocking details came to the fore during a visit by Chief MInister B S Yeddyurappa here on Wednesday.
The government is now contemplating to shift the Colony to a new location, a better place. The Chief Minister has now proposed to shift the Beggars’ Colony and establish a ‘Mini-Lalbagh’ along with a government hospital on a five acre land in the location.
“Being in the centre of the City and worth around Rs 1,000 crore, the land can be used for various purposes. This would be decided in the next Cabinet meeting,” he said.
However, it is still unclear on the demands for upgradation of the existing government hospitals.
State of disarray
In a state of disarray, the Beggars’ Colony has been the focus of the surprise trip taken by the CM on Wednesday. “The beggars’ inside are no different from those languishing outside,” commented Yeddyurappa on the maintenance of the colony. It appears that the CM has issued a oral warning to officials to provide proper attention to the inmates in the colony.
Visiting the Beggars’ Colony, the CM insisted that nobody should refer to the place as ‘Beggars’ Colony’ but more as a place of rehabilitation for dejected people. “Since taking over the reigns of the government, I have never been able to visit this place.
It is quite a sad state of affairs with the beggars’,” the CM said.
However, officials disputed the statements made by the CM on the poor maintenance by stating that not a single penny comes from the government as funds for the maintenance of the Colony.
“The money we receive to maintain the place is the Beggars’ cess that is collected by the BBMP during tax collection drives,” said an official on the spot.
