With the extreme inflation and worsened economic situation, social evil like beggary is on the upswing in the country.
There is not any proper system prevailing in Pakistan which can prevent beggars as without check and balance the mushroom growth of baggers have added manifolds to their tally in every nook and corner of the country. People associated with this think that begging is an easy way to earn a handsome amount of money instead of working hard the whole day.
In every city, town or even villages there is an abundance of baggers in every street, in every vicinity and on main roads on every traffic signal. They take advantage of the fact that Pakistani people like to give alms and charity with an open heart.
The governments, which remained in power since the beginning did not pay any heed towards the eradicating the menace of beggary from the society as not even a long term single measure was taken for the welfare of the people who are related with it.
Some anti-social elements who are behind the promotion of beggary as they run the gangs of baggers in different cities and towns. As a matter of fact, they are the real beneficiaries of this rotten system as they receive share from the income of baggers on daily basis and in return they not only provide shelter to them from the hands of law enforcing agencies and public service departments because they convey handsome amount to some corrupt officials sitting in these organizations for not taking the frequent actions against the beggars but also they act as arbitrators in the internal disputes among them. These criminals minded people are so influential that they have political links too. They have turned this social evil into a profession.
Though the federal as well as all the provincial governments have the human rights and social welfare departments for which the hefty budget is allocated every year, they did not ponder taking solid steps for the eradication of beggary ever.
Nearly two decades ago ,Punjab government took the initiative for the first time in the history of the country and established a separate department to finish the beggary from the province. They used to lift baggers from the different areas of every city with the help of police and kept them at places specially made for this purpose for one month or so. During their stay there they were given training of different jobs such as motor mechanic, electrician and plumber etc. The aim of the provincial government behind this measure was to transform baggers into work force to earn respectfully for their livelihood.
In the beginning the department remained active for one or two months but after that the department took a deep sleep and instead of a heavy budget , the performance of the department became nil and its presence was not seen anywhere . Later the provincial government abolished the department.
It is the requirement of the time that the government must have a solid strategy to end the malevolent of beggars from the country.