Beggary: Business or a try for survival

Beggary is basically when a class of extremely poor people start asking other people (middle to higher class) for favors in terms of money, food, clothes, etc. Beggars find it easy to beg rather than do any physical or mental effort or work. Beggars who beg mostly have no skills, talent or education. They even prefer their forthcoming generation to be part of the same activity.

Factors which play an essential role in beggarization include lack of education and skills, economic problems, inheritance, abnormality, sometimes laziness and need for sympathy. Beggars find it easier than working somewhere, and they believe they can earn more this way than any other profession. According to recent studies, the average wage of a gardener, nanny, cook, driver or any factory worker is around 6000 rupees, whereas a beggar can earn up to 10,000 rupees per month. It is believed that there are mafias who approach utterly poor people, and force them into beggary.

Almost 2.5 to 11 percent, in other words, between five to 25 million people in Pakistan are beggars. In general, conditions of beggary vary from country to country; there are some countries where beggars live a joyful life. In some countries, the issues of beggars are severe, and beggars face a lot of hardships. However, if we talk about our country, Pakistan has failed miserably to address this issue.

Beggary can be controlled if the government implements laws and rules against it; they should try to eliminate poverty as much as possible and provide extremely poor people with good education and jobs for a better future. They must try to catch mafias forcing others to work for them. Rehabilitation shall be done; shelters shall be provided to poor people and their skills should be developed so they can at least earn bread for their families.

By Rabia Tanveer
SZABIST