India is engulfed with many problems and begging is one of them. Statistics reveal that about half a million people in our country are beggars. Here is a look at the way these beggars lead their lives and what invokes them to choose begging as a way of life.
Beggars in India lead an extremely miserable life. They are seen draped in shabby and torn clothes and are mostly barefoot. Irrespective of the season, beggars are seen clad in minimal clothing. It is heart-wrenching to see small kids with bare minimal clothes seeking alms and food in extreme weather conditions. Pregnant women and those carrying small kids in their arms and a bowl in their hand asking for money and food to eat is also a common sight in India.
Elderly and physically handicapped beggars are seen sitting on wheel chair asking people for help. These beggars do not have any home. Even the people living in the slum areas deny permission to them. They mostly lead their lives on the footpath begging and trying hard to make their ends meet. The extreme weather conditions of our country make things all the more worse for them. Many of these beggars fall sick and die due to extreme cold, hot and rain.
The condition of most of the beggars in India is as bad as it looks. However, there are many who have accumulated a good amount of money by way of begging and are no longer poor. They can very well afford a good lifestyle but they choose to live in rags and continue to beg for a living as that is what they can do best. Not only do these people beg themselves but also involve all their family members in this hideous task. Despite having enough money, most such beggars do not send their children or grandchildren to school and force them to beg.
There are some beggars who are genuinely deprived of the basic necessities and need to beg for their livelihood. They have no other means of fulfilling their needs. On the other hand, there are beggars who have good amount of wealth and are also physically fit to do different kinds of work to earn money. However, they still choose to beg as it means easy income for them. In such a scenario it becomes difficult for people to distinguish between the needy and the fake.
Whether one is needy or not, he must not resort to begging. Begging must be banned by the government of India.