Commissionerate system renders 'Beggars' Home' dysfunctional

After implementation of the commissionerate system in Punjab, the 'Beggars' Home Lahore' is lying dysfunctional as there is no authority to arrest beggars and hand them over to the Social Welfare & Bait-ul-Maal department for taking legal action and rehabilitate them, official sources privy to the development toldBusiness Recorder here on Monday.
"Before revival of the commissionerate system, the Deputy Coordination Officer (DCO) had constituted an anti-beggary squad to eliminate this social evil but presently the department is lying idle and the provincial government has formed no body till date to deal with this issue," they said. The sources said now the police are supposed to nab the beggars.
When contacted, Director Planning of the Social Welfare & Bait-ul-Maal (SW&BM) Muhammad Suleman confirmed the development, saying his department is well aware about the situation but they were taking steps to deal with that matter. "Under the Punjab Vagrancy Ordinance 1958, the department of SW&BM is only liable to provide facilities/shelter to convicted persons. We have no mandate to arrest any person on charges of beggary," he said while talking to this scribe.
"Under Section 7 of the ordinance, any police officer, without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant, may arrest and search any person who appears to him to be a beggar and may seize anything found on or about such person that he believes to be liable to confiscation under this ordinance," he quoted the clause of the ordinance.
"A person, arrested under this ordinance, shall be released if he furnishes bail to the satisfaction of the police officer making arrest for his appearance before the magistrate having jurisdiction in the area where the arrest is made. If the person arrested is not able to furnish bail to the satisfaction of the police officer making arrest, such person shall be detained in custody and shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of 24 hours of arrest," reads the ordinance.
About the trial of beggars, the ordinance says when the accused is brought before the magistrate, he shall be tried in accordance with the procedure prescribed for the trial of cases under Chapter XX of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898). And if the magistrate finds that a person is a vagrant, such a person shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a period not exceeding three years. The ordinance also mentions punishment of imprisonment of one year or fine or both for those employing people to ask for alms.
The director, however, said the designated officers of the force were not performing their duties they do not prefer to lodge complaints (FIRs) against them (beggars). He said they had contacted the concerned departments and now the police department had nominated a focal person who would provide assistance for conducting raids against the begging mafia.
Rubina Shahzadi, Head of Beggars' Home Lahore, said the management of the Lahore Airport had written a letter to them, asking for their help in evacuating the premises of the airport from beggars. They took an action with the help of department concerned and busted a gang involved in that activity, she added.
During the rehabilitation process, one of the gang members revealed that they used to earn around seven to eight thousand rupees per day. The beggars are still working in the provincial metropolis and they have fixed prices for certain traffic signals. They prefer begging in posh areas, she further commented.
To a query, she said they had no case study regarding rehabilitation of any person who are brought to the Beggars' Home. "This menace is increasing day by day which has now evolved into big and oraganised mafias," she mentioned. She said the Beggars' Home has the capacity to accommodate around 100 persons and it is an only home in Punjab. More such homes must be established for rehabilitation and training of beggars, she suggested.