VIJAYAWADA: With the objective of making the city beggar-free, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, in collaboration with Telangana-based Amma Nanna Anada Ashramam, recently launched a one-day drive and shifted 80 beggars to a rehabilitation home at Choutuppal near Hyderabad.
The initiative was mooted by Municipal Commissioner J Nivas after a series of incidents of beggars and destitutes being mistaken for members of criminal gangs involved in stealing children and beaten up by public. Against this background, the civic body chief approached ANNA seeking its support for rehabilitating them and minimise crimes in the city.
According to official estimates, nearly 15,000 beggars, including women and children, are in Vijayawada city alone. They can be seen begging at traffic signals, shopping malls and temples, causing much inconvenience to the people, Nivas said.
‘Since the government has taken up construction of State capital Amaravati, which is in close proximity of Vijayawada, the menace has assumed an alarming proportion in the city. To address the issue, VMC approached Telangana NGO.
Amma Nanna Anada Ashramam successfully transformed Hyderabad into a beggar-free city with the support of GHMC officials during the visit of Ivanka Trupm, daughter of US President Donald Trump, for the GES summit in November 2017,’’ said municipal commissioner J Nivas. A team of representatives from the ANNA visited the city on July 7 and took 80 destitutes and beggars to the rehabilitation centre to be given vocational training so that they can lead a life of dignity, he added.
Speaking to TNIE on Sunday, ANNA president Gattu Giri said that the destitutes rescued in Vijayawada were drug addicts and mentally unsound. They would be counselled against begging, he said. ‘’30 of the destitutes have Aadhaar cards and they will be handed over to their respective families after thorough counselling. Similar drive will be conducted in Vijayawada shortly and the remaining destitutes will also be shifted to the rehabilitation home,’’ Giri added.
