Now, beggars will sing paeans to 'Swachh Bharat'

You can soon find the bedraggled beggar on train belting out songs in praise of “Swachh Bharat Abhiyhan” instead of the usual bhajans and time-worn Bollywood numbers.

The government is considering a proposal to rope them in for publicising initiatives like “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” and “Jan Dhan Yojana”.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry, official sources said, is planning a massive rural outreach programme through its song and drama division, which in collaboration with the All India Radio, will implement the programme where troupes would sing songs creating awareness about government initiatives.

Lyrics of some of the songs which would be sung are being finalised and registered troupes would be pressed into service to take the message to the farthest corners.

As part of this initiative, the ministry is considering involving “beggars who sing for a living”.