There are two postgraduates and three graduates among the 1,162 beggars in Jaipur city and they are willing to earn a livelihood with dignity if given an opportunity, said a survey conducted by the city police. The survey claims that 825 of these beggars are illiterate while 39 are literate and other 193 have gone to school.
The five beggars to have earned at least a post graduate degree are located in Ramniwas Bagh, C-Scheme and the Walled City. While one is a post graduate in arts, another has a post graduate degree in commerce and three have graduated in arts. Two out of the five are between the age group of 50 and 55, two are between 32 and 35 years of age and the fifth beggar is 65-years-old.
The survey was conducted with an aim to make Jaipur city free of beggars by imparting them necessary skills where possible; and introducing others to un-skilled professions. The five beggars with college education said they were ready to work at hotels, construction sites and in other un-skilled avenues.
“I am from Jhunjhunu and I did my graduation 25-years-ago from a government college. I came to Jaipur to find a job but I didn’t find one. Things got difficult for me in the city. For many days I had nothing to eat and no place to sleep. I had nobody in the family, so I was forced to beg in front of others on the streets for my survival,” said one of the graduate beggars.
He said he will be obliged if given an opportunity to earn his bread with dignity and pride. “I am open to any work or job, from a labourer to any other work like cleaning, hotel staff etc. I only expect a decent return through which I can buy my butter and bread and pay rent to live. Everybody wants to live a dignified life and we would be thankful to the administration if they do that,” the beggar said.
419 of the surveyed beggars in the city echoed the sentiment and said they didn’t want to beg but didn’t have any other work, 27 of them said they wanted to study.
The survey also revealed that 119 beggars live in Kotwali police station area, 180 in Ashok Nagar, 85 in Moti Dungri, 58 in Lalkothi, 64 in Sindhi Camp, 39, in Gandhi Nagar, 37 each in Brahmpuri and Shastri Nagar, 46 in Pratap Nagar and rest in other parts of the city.
While 809 of these beggars are from Rajasthan, 95 are from Uttar Pradesh, 63 from Madhya Pradesh, 45 from Bihar, 37 from West Bengal, 25 from Gujarat, 15 from Maharashtra and the rest from other parts of the country. A gender wise break-up puts the number of male beggars at 939 and females at 223.
On the health front, 898 beggars were found to be fit, 150 are specially-abled, 18 are suffering from asthma, 06 from tuberculosis, one from cancer and the rest had minor diseases.
Narendra Dahima, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), administration, who was also the project incharge said the survey was completed in the month of May.
“The aim of the survey was to identify the beggars in the city and to form a strategy for their rehabilitation and at the same time to find if there was an involvement of some organised gang behind them,” said Dahima.