Indore claims to have become India’s first beggar-free city

Beggars in the city were rehabilitated by helping them find employment, while children involved in begging were enrolled in schools, district magistrate Ashish Singh told reporters.

Indore: Indore has become the country's first beggar-free city, officials have said.

There were about 5,000 beggars on the city streets a year ago before the administration launched a campaign, they said.

“Indore has become the country's first beggar-free city,” district magistrate Ashish Singh told reporters on Thursday.

Beggars in the city were rehabilitated by helping them find employment, while children involved in begging were enrolled in schools, he said.

“The campaign we launched for the elimination of begging has itself become a model. It has been recognised by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and also a World Bank team,” Singh added.

Indore is one of the 10 cities where the Union ministry has started a pilot project to eliminate begging.

District programme officer of the Women and Child Development Department, Ramnivas Budholia, said the campaign against begging was launched in February 2024.

There were about 5,000 beggars in the city, including 500 children, he said.

“In the first phase, we ran an awareness campaign. Then the beggars were rehabilitated. We also found many beggars who used to come to Indore from Rajasthan to beg," said Budholia.

Begging as well as giving money to beggars or buying anything from them has been banned in the city, and so far three FIRs have been registered for violations, he said.

A reward of Rs 1,000 is given to anyone providing information about begging, and many people have claimed the reward so far, said another official.