THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite a blanket ban, beggars are back on the city streets. The presence of dozens of vagabonds at public places and worship centres has become a concern for city residents.
Recently, state police chief T P Senkumar had warned of thefts by persons belonging to the ‘Thiruttu Gramam’ network. The warning came in the wake of the monsoon season when a rise in thefts occur across the state.
Earlier, the city had witnessed several incidents in which thieves masquerading as beggars broke into houses. Though begging has been banned in the city since 2006, alms seekers, mostly people from other states, are seen aplenty in the city. Their preferred locations include worship centres like the Sree Padmanabhaswami temple, church and mosque at Palayam, Chalai and Palayam markets, East Fort and Thampanoor.
City Police Commissioner G Sparjan Kumar said the police are keeping a tab on beggars and constant efforts are being taken made to detect anti-socials or thieves operating under the cover of begging. “Monitoring activities are done by all stations. Monthly review meetings are being held to detect unusual developments,” he said.
However, the police are learnt to have stopped enforcing the begging ban. Beggar rehabilitation programme of the City Corporation too has come to a standstill due to the lack of infrastructure at Sakshatkaram, its beggar rehabilitation home.
Mayor V K Prasanth said the corporation has stopped picking up beggars from the street due to lack of a good vehicle. “We were asked to stop using the vehicle which had an iron gate which resembled a lock-up. Efforts are on to buy an ambulance,” he said.
He said the home also needs to ensure the service of a doctor and nurse. At present the home situated at Kalladimukham has 30-odd inmates.
Childline director Fr P D Thomas said nomadic beggar groups pose a threat to child safety. “In the past, we had dealt with cases in which alms seekers used children for begging. In such cases, we would detain the child and ask the so-called parents to bring proof for parentage. The parents did not return in most cases,” he said.
According to the Childline, beggars who use children for alms seeking at worship centres often resort to creating communal strife. “There have incidents in which beggars got local support to employ children to seek alms since it was considered a religious affair,” he said.
City residents have also raised concern over the lack of efforts by Railways to prevent the inflow of beggars from other states. Local police too blame the railways. Inspector at a local police station said these beggars from other states set up their camps in the night in the railway premises at Neyyattinara, Nemom and Balaramapuram. “We can’t patrol these places 24x7. The railways can do it better,” he said.
But RPF officials refuted this claim. “We discourage begging on trains and station premises. If children are found among nomadic groups we inform the Childline,” officials said.