By L S Herdenia
BHOPAL: Strange things happen in Madhya Pradesh. Latest in this is the open condemnation of the habit of demanding freebies by the people and leaders, readily giving them liberally. This remark of Minister Prahlad Patel drew sharp criticism from Congress. But Patel forgot that his own government carried a campaign to ban appearance of beggars during Global Industrial Summit in Bhopal. Almost every beggar was asked to disappear. Now after the summit beggars are back in the streets.
The remark of Patel drew strong criticism from Congress. Congress claims it’s a conspiracy to “snatch the rights of women”, and has announced demonstrations against BJP government and Patel in every district headquarters on March 5.
After unveiling a statue of Rani Avantibai Lodhi on Saturday, Patel, the panchayat and rural development minister, said: “People have developed a habit of begging from the govt. Leaders come, they get a basket full of papers. This is not a good habit. Instead of taking, develop the mindset of giving. Gathering an army of beggars does not strengthen society; it weakens it. The attraction towards free things is not a mark of respect for these brave women.”
PCC president Jitu Patwari tore into Patel, accusing him of “insulting those who are sorrow”. “The arrogant BJP is calling the public beggars,” he said. Unfazed by criticism, Patel on Monday said: “Telling society to live with self-respect is not a crime. I have been telling this to people in my community for a long time and will continue to do so.”
“I would ask Jitu Patwari to first apologize to my party and leadership. There were Congress leaders on the dais as well. It was not a party programme. So, making my party and leadership stand in the dock shows Jitu Patwari’s intention of grabbing headlines.”
“What I said was within my community people, something that I have been saying for a long time and will continue to do so. Making society stand on its feet with self-respect is not a crime. Without thinking, Jitu Patwari attacked my party and leadership.”
Congress pressed on with the attack on Patel. At a press meet in Bhopal PCC media department chairman Mukesh Nayak announced statewide protests against the minister and BJP government on Wednesday.
BJP government has pushed MP into the abyss of misery, insecurity and humiliation in the last 20 years, he alleged. “Now the situation is such that BJP govt, which used to call the public ‘god’, and garner votes, is now calling women, the elderly, farmers, youth, students and disabled people ‘beggars’,” Nayak said.
“When 1.29 crore sisters of the state demanded the right of their hard-earned money, Minister Prahlad Patel called them beggars. Will women be demanding their rights? Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Prahlad Patel should explain why would people go to them with applications to demand their rights if BJP government had made the state developed?” he added.
He alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to “snatch the rights of women by insulting them”. “Women are being deprived of Ladli Behna Scheme by declaring them ineligible. Due to inflation and unemployment, women are struggling to become self-reliant, but BJP government is trying to break their morale by calling them beggars,” Nayak alleged.
“Farmers are wandering about for fertilizers and seeds, and students have not received scholarships for four years, yet BJP government considers them beggars,” he alleged.
Though no leader of the ruling party publicly supported Patel but by banning begging during industrial summit it gave the impression that it is also against the begging. But the ban seems to be short lived as the beggars are now seen on the streets of Bhopal.
A month after begging was banned in Bhopal, beggars are back on the city roads. They could be seen everywhere: At traffic signals, roadsides and outside religious places too. This raises apprehensions that the begging ban may meet a similar fate as the ban on the use of polythene or single-use plastic in the absence of effective enforcement.
“Beggars went nowhere. They were not active for some days, maybe because of the hype of GIS-25 or under a ‘wait and watch’ policy to see how far the administration is serious in enforcing the ban. A month later, they are back. They can be sighted in markets and outside monasteries. There is no effective strategy to ensure that the begging actually stops,” said Arihant Gupta, a businessman.
“For some days, people were talking about the ban. The beggars, too, were not being sighted that much except for places like Hanuman Temple in 100 Quarters. Even where they were there, they sat on the footpath or by the roadside, not asking for anything but waiting for people, to give them alms on their own. But now the fear of FIR or being caught by the administration seems to have abated,” said Rahul Diwan, a resident of a colony near Char Imli.
He pointed out that beggars by the road outside the Apex Bank Colony, who were not seen for the past many days, are back there again. Among the markets, where beggars regularly visited the shops and for the shopkeepers, too, it was a ritual to give them a coin of Re 1 or Rs 2 or something to eat, beggars were not seen for some days but are back and shopkeepers, too, have started giving them alms after some days of confusion following media reports that FIRs are being registered against those giving alms as well.
“They prefer if you give them money in cash, but nowadays when I refuse to give them money citing the ban, they ask me to give them something to eat. How can I refuse them that with packs of snacks hanging all over my shop,” said Rakesh Gupta, who has a provision store in Shivaji Nagar.
Abdul Samad said, “It’s the holy month of Ramzan when everyone wants to give something to the needy. You can see a crowd of beggars outside the mosque anytime these days.”
Joint director, social justice department, R K Singh, who is in the committee constituted by the district collector to enforce the begging ban, when told that beggars, after a hiatus of some days, are back on the streets of Bhopal city and how they propose to enforce the ban effectively, said, “When we put our men on junctions, they disappeared. We wish to further give impetus to vigilance for checking begging, but people in the committee are doing this job in addition to work they already have. Perhaps that’s why we have not been able to check begging as effectively as we should.” (IPA Service)
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