NEW DELHI: To curb begging in the national capital, the Delhi government has trained, skilled and rehabilitated over 400 beggars in the past 18 months, linking many of them to welfare schemes. Many of them work as street vendors at present.
Under the SMILE scheme, nearly 4,000 people engaged in begging were identified across the city. NGOs shifted them in eight selected ‘rain baseras’ run by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, where they underwent medical check-ups, basic grooming and counselling, an official said.
“Most of them had slipped into begging due to poverty, age or separation from families. Many were migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” the official said, adding that the majority were above 35-40 years of age.
Given their age and willingness, the focus of skill training remained practical and livelihood-orientated, she said.
“We trained most of them as street vendors while some received training in cooking, domestic work and basic painting jobs,” added the official.
Several beneficiaries were rehabilitated in areas such as Dwarka and Najafgarh, where they were also registered as street vendors with the MCD, she said. Registration helped protect them from harassment and enabled access to government credit and pension schemes.