E-Paper
An enterprise that turns beggars into entrepreneurs
According to founder Chandra Mishra, Beggars’ Corporation is not an NGO. It neither accepts nor gives donations. It is a unique profit with purpose company recognized as a social impact startup by DPIIT, Government of India, and awarded Best Social Impact award in the Global Entrepreneur Contest Season-9 in April this year .
VARANASI The Beggars’ Corporation (BC), an enterprise that turns beggars into entrepreneurs, has launched a 100-day citizen awareness campaign to make Varanasi the first begging-free city of India by March 2027. It calls upon people to not give alms to the beggars but to send them to the Corporation to work and earn with dignity, as per its founder Chandra Mishra.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Mishra requested the government and the district administration to conduct a proper survey , launch verification and motivation programmes to identify beggars in Varanasi and issue them identity cards. It would help curb rackets like begging, drug peddling, organ trade, child and women trafficking and crime syndicates operating from the ghats. While the BC would take care of those who want to work, the administration should take care of the child beggars, old, sick and disabled .To bring beggars to the mainstream, the administration should include them in various welfare schemes for the poor, like health cards for free treatment, schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Right To Education and loan for alternative livelihood etc.
According to Mishra, Beggars’ Corporation is not an NGO. It neither accepts nor gives donations. It is a unique profit with purpose company recognized as a social impact startup by DPIIT, Government of India, and awarded Best Social Impact award in the Global Entrepreneur Contest Season-9 in April this year .
Beggars earning ₹12,000 per month
According to a survey of BC, Varanasi has around 6,000 beggars which include 1400 children. BC targets ablebodied beggars in the age group of 18-40 living with family or children. Starting with 50 beggar families in April 2024, BC will provide sustainable alternatives to 800-1000 beggar families in 6 stages in three years. Till date, BC has uplifted 17 families from the begging trap and now they are engaged in different trades and earning with dignity.
There are instances when the beggars earned ₹12,000 per month during 3 months entrepreneurship training.
BC is signing a three -year contract with the beggars to give them minimum livelihood support at ₹10,000 per month and ₹1 lakh after three years. This is a unique example where beggars get share in the companies and minimum ₹4.6 lakh in three years, as per Mishra.
Since begging stems from the public sentiment for donation, , BC has declared ₹1000 as reward for citizenswho motivate and bring a beggar to work. It also asks people to give their old clothes which are recycled by beggars to produce eco-friendly cotton bags of beautiful patchwork.
