Delhi govt launches training centre to rehabilitate beggars in the Capital

“The Kejriwal government is now preparing a strategy to rehabilitate beggars in Delhi. Our aim is to make Delhi begging-free,” said social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam

The Delhi government launched a training centre and skill development centre on Monday to help persons who make their living by begging, while social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam shared the findings of a government survey, which identified 20,719 individuals as “persons engaged in the act of begging”.

Delhi social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam launched the training and skill development centres at the Delhi Secretariat on Monday. (ANI)

“The Kejriwal government is now preparing a strategy to rehabilitate beggars in Delhi. Our aim is to make Delhi begging-free... The Delhi government will ensure and provide skill training to persons engaged in begging so that they can find economic opportunities in mainstream society,” said Gautam during the launch of the training and skill development centres at the Delhi Secretariat.

In February 2021, the department of social welfare in collaboration with the Institute for Human Development conducted on-ground surveys to identify persons engaged in the act of begging (PEAB), the government said in a statement.

“In the survey, around 20,719 people were identified as PEAB in Delhi. Out of the total, 53% (10,987) were men, 46% (9,541) were women across 11 districts. One per cent (191) were transgenders. The highest number of PEAB were in East Delhi (2,797),” said Gautam, citing the findings of the survey.

He added: “Poverty, along with many other factors, results in a person resorting to begging. People are forced into begging because of their social and economic circumstances. They are the most vulnerable section of society. Keeping this in mind, we conducted a pilot survey to identify such persons and simultaneously formulate a plan through which they can be rehabilitated.”

“The department of social welfare in Delhi government has started the ‘integrated programme for the rehabilitation of beggars in Delhi’. The objective of this program is to make Delhi a begging-free city by rehabilitating beggars and also providing them with opportunities for training and skill development so that they can find jobs in the mainstream economy. The aim of the project is to create a sustainable model for rehabilitating and settlement of persons engaged in the act of begging,” the government statement said.