Dr Navneet Kaur
Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir- Our land, blessed with the serenity of ancient temples and the majesty of the Himalayas, faces a paradox: the scourge of begging. While tourists flock to our spiritual and natural wonders, our streets and traffic signals are shadowed by exploited individuals , many of them women and children , trapped in cycles of poverty and abuse. As a social reformer who has dedicated three decades to empowering marginalized communities, I urge a collective shift from charity to systemic change.
The Hidden Crisis: Begging as Organized Exploitation .
Begging is not merely a nuisance; it is a symptom of systemic failure. Investigations reveal that over 60% of beggars in Jammu are controlled by criminal gangs that traffic children, exploit disabilities, and siphon earnings. Women and girls often fleeing domestic abuse or workplace harassment (a cause I’ve fought working as the human and child rights activist in number of Internal Complaint Committees and Child Line . I have also been a part of the global child protection bill with the United Nations ), are coerced into begging as a last resort. While waiting on a traffic signal, you often see children wearing torn clothes, broken limbs -wandering from one car window to another- begging for money. Question is- who are these children and why are they doing this? And the answer is quite complex as some of them are begging on roads because of poverty or displacement due to their shelters getting destroyed in a natural calamity or maybe, they are the victim of some child trafficking racket. Street children are poor or homeless kids who live on the street in a city, town, or village. Mostly, these kids are found in large numbers in the big cities, where tourism is well- flourished.On average every second passing man in a vehicle gives money to these children. This is a normal human tendency, our heart melts on seeing an innocent needy face in a pathetic condition. Our hand slips into our pocket, in search of money. But, very few among us know, that giving money to these children does more harm than help. Yes! You read it right. Their families force them to do this, just to satisfy their temporary financial crisis. Nowadays, they have come up with very convincing lines to feed you; like they go to school in the morning and they are begging for collecting their school fees. Don’t buy these lines… government schools’ schemes are running to educate poor kids, at least apply some logic.
Giving them money is equal to entertaining them to beg more. But this is not the only case, some children get drugs in exchange for money. No accurate and updated data is not available regarding the crime against the children.The horror does not end here, these children get involved in other crimes too. There are instances when a kid asks for milk or any other food item from a shop, in most of the cases they return it to the shopkeeper and get some money, or the money gets divided and that food item ends up remaining back on the shelf.I have also witnessed some of these children using abusive or foul language to the pedestrians who give them 1- or 2-rupee coins. Some of them throw it back on your face. They have also learned some catchy lines for example when they see a couple,” May God bless you with a beautiful baby boy” or “May your love for each other grow every single day” etc. I must say beggars have evolved with such great tactics that one cannot resist falling for. An empty stomach can make a person do anything. Perhaps, sleeping under the sky without any roof over their heads, make them disrespectful.The trafficked children are tortured and exploited in ways; we cannot even imagine. They are forced to live under inhumane conditions. Children even get maimed as an injured child gets more attention and sympathy hence extracting more money. You might be wondering why our government is not doing anything for the welfare of these street-connected children? Well, the government has launched a scheme; INTEGRATED SCHEME FOR STREET CHILDREN. The goal of this scheme is to safeguard the children especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation such as children of sex workers and children living on the streets. But like many other schemes, not all get benefitted. Most of them are unaware of these schemes. There should be an awareness campaign regarding information about the scheme. While on the other hand, some people continue to beg even after getting registered into the scheme for earning more money as they consider that it is easy to beg than to work . This crisis demands more than pity-it requires *action*
From Alms to Empowerment: A Blueprint for Change
My work since 2007-leading 53 Self-Help Groups (SHGs), advocating for MSMEs, and spearheading cancer/anemia /blood donation drives-has shown that sustainable solutions lie in *dignity, not dependency*.
Here’s how we can adapt this model to eradicate begging:
Let us replace Cash with Capacity-Building, “A rupee given today fuels exploitation tomorrow.”Instead, support grassroots networks like my cooperative society, which has trained 3200+ women in tailoring, handicrafts, and agri-business through SHGs. These initiatives offer livelihoods, not handouts.
Partner with NRLM , Social Welfare Department , MSMEs to create jobs for rehabilitated beggars, turning temples into hubs for selling local products.
Rescue and Rehabilitate
Strengthen anti-trafficking laws and collaborate with law enforcement to dismantle begging syndicates.
Use my health campaign infrastructure (which screened 10,000+ women for anemia) to provide medical aid and counseling to rescued individuals. We need to keep a check on babies who were being used by women for begging at traffic junctions. Most of them are given small doses of drugs for sedition so that they don’t trouble their mothers while they are begging . As social groups we have been tracking a group of women with small babies begging at various traffic signals in the city with the team of women cells under J&K Police .
Educate and Empower
There is a need to launch community workshops in schools and colleges, engaging youth to break the stigma around begging.
Replicate our SHG model to create “Dignity Centers” offering vocational training, mental health support, and micro-loans. Now that, you have a piece of ample information about their suffering, some of us want to help but don’t know exactly how to help these unfortunate kids. There are ways in which you can help these children without giving them money. I have made an acronym for it, Donate food , water , leftovers , clothes, and books. Volunteer in any NGO, which helps these street kids. Report to Child Line toll free no 1098 if you see so child being forced to do so . Inspire them by telling stories about getting successful through hard work and dedication.In this way, we can help a few street children. Kids are the future of a nation; therefore, it is the need of the hour to support these innocents from such atrocities and exploitation otherwise our vision of India emerging as a world power, will remain a dream forever.
A Call to Jammu’s Conscience : This is not a solo mission. Join hands with my organizations, government bodies, and NGOs to: Support SHGs, health drives, or skill centers instead of giving cash. We need youth and social Volunteers to assist in awareness rallies, workshops, or rehabilitation programs. There is a dire need of advocacy and demand stricter enforcement against traffickers and invest in social safety nets. Support of the Police of Jammu and Kashmir, Women Cells . Child line and Social Welfare dept Services , local NGOs and support groups to rebuild a beautiful social fabric.
Every child on the street is a failure of our system. Let us all pledge to protect these girls and remove them from this situation to live in a better and secure place and for all those struggling every day as well.
Let’s build a Jammu where no woman or child is forced to beg.
(The author Social Reformer & Founder of NGO SUPPORT)
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