A recent research conducted on beggars in India revealed that they have an official count of 3.72 lakh, but a fact which will force you to think twice is 21% of them are literate. This figure includes those individuals who have passed senior secondary certificate exams and above, while more than 3000 among them have professional diplomas or they are graduates.
The research also suggested that many of them have turned the adage ‘Beggars cannot be choosers’ on its head — especially considering they are literate but chose beggary after their degrees failed to land them satisfactory jobs.
Dinesh Khodhabhai (45), a 12th pass who can speak decent English said “I may be poor but I am an honest man. I beg as it fetches me more money, Rs 200 a day. My last job of a ward boy in a hospital got me only Rs 100 a day,”
Dinesh is part of a motley group of 30 beggars who seek alms around Bhadra Kali temple in Ahmedabad. Before their work begins, they sip hot tea offered for nothing by a city generous donor.
Sudhir Babulal (51) is a third-year BCom fail beggar who earns Rs 150 per day. Sudhir had come to Ahmadabad from Vijapur town with dreams of a good life but masonry jobs were inconsistent, fetching him Rs 3,000 for a 10-hour shift and nothing for weeks on end. “After my wife left me, where was the need to keep a house? I sleep on the riverfront and beg,” said Sudhir.
Dashrath Parmar (52), who has an MCom degree from Gujarat University, is another pan-handler. This father of three, who aspired for government service but lost even the private job he had, today lives off free meals offered by charity organizations. His mother is hospitalized.
Ashok Jaisur, who cleared high school from Mumbai, begs in Lal Darwaza area. He left his job as a security guard after he lost sight due to cataract and now begs.
“I have only one wish: to make my son Raj an animator,” says Ashok who feeds his nine girls and wife from income earned off the streets.
“It’s difficult to rehabilitate beggars as they get lured back due to easy money,” says Biren Joshi of Manav Sadhana, an NGO working with beggars.
“People with degrees turning to begging reflect the grim employment scenario. People turn to soliciting alms when they do not get decent jobs and have no social support to fall back on,” says sociologist Gaurang Jani.
