Act on begging mafia

A study by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) provides disturbing insights into the plight of children who are pushed into begging in Bengaluru. The study, which was done on the orders of the Karnataka High Court, provides details of some 720 children who are begging in various parts of the city. Around 534 of them are reported to have been forced into begging. The human trafficking network and the beggar mafia play a huge role in forcing children into begging and an investigation of these would help us trace many missing children, the KSLSA study says. We see dozens of children begging at traffic lights or outside temples. Many of us respond to them by yelling at them to go away. Some of us fork out a few rupees to allay our conscience and make these children go away. Rarely do we think deeply about what is forcing these children to beg. Where have they come from and where do they go? Have they voluntarily entered the begging ‘business’? And what happens to the money we give them?

Many of the children we see begging in public places are victims of their circumstances. Poverty, deprivation and homelessness are likely to have driven them to begging for food and money. Particularly pathetic is the condition of children who are tied to the begging mafia. Children are sometimes stolen from their parents and homes and sold into the trafficking trade. Some land up in brothels and others on our streets. What they earn goes to their handlers, the begging mafia. Particularly disturbing is the plight of children who are deliberately maimed and then sent to beg. Such children are expected to ‘earn’ more as they evoke more sympathy from people. If they don’t bring in enough income for the kingpin, the child is further maimed.

The begging mafia is a powerful one with strong links to the trafficking network and the police; the latter provide them with protection as they get a percentage of the daily pickings. The KSLSA study has drawn attention to instances of police investigating cases of traffickers selling children to the begging mafia. This is worrying. Government action is necessary to break this nexus between the mafia and the police. But people too can act to make begging less profitable to the kingpins. Instead of giving beggar children money, which goes to their handlers, we could give them food and medicines, shelter and a safe environment. Rather than chase beggar children away, we should provide them with sustained institutional support.