Why do beggars prefer begging than having a job?

 By Taresh Datta

Firstly, why do beggars beg? Secondly, have you ever asked a beggar if, by offering them a particular job, they would quit begging? Why don’t beggars like working?

If you haven’t, then the next time you give money to any beggar on the street, don’t forget to ask them this question. In India, there are few people who are unable to work due to physical disorders and are thus forced to beg all the time. But most importantly, even when everything is fine with some beggars, why do they beg?

Well, nowadays, people who are begging on the streets clearly don’t want to work in a good place. Trust me; if you ever tell them that you’ll give them a job, then either they will back-answer you or they will run away. These beggars beg because they easily get a lot of money by begging, and that’s why they feel that there’s absolutely no need to take any physical pain to earn money. You have mercy on these people, and then you give them money, but these beggars spend it all on unwanted addictive things. These beggars don’t want to waste their lives by working regularly. They don’t feel good about working hard each month. This is the main reason why the beggars prefer begging all the time.

I’m making this point clear once again: In India, there are very few beggars who helplessly choose to beg only because they have a physical disorder.

According to official data, the country’s capital has over 60,000 beggars. Furthermore, the reports state that at least 90 percent of beggars came here from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Bihar states. Now, when you look at these figures, you’ll notice that there are no beggars from Delhi, but they came here from different states. In reality, the fact is that some of these beggars were brought to Delhi for begging. The people who are running the gang outside the states are bringing beggars from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.

In India, there are a total of 3.72 million beggars. Out of these, approximately 79 thousand, i.e., 21 percent, are literates. When we delve further, it is more surprising to know that out of these 79 thousand, nearly 3,000 have technical or some professional diploma courses. Now, don’t you think that these educated ones can seek any governmental work?

But still, no matter what, these beggars prefer holding a bowl in hand rather than working respectfully.

The bitter truth is that these people are begging because we continuously give them money in the name of sympathy. And now, begging, which started with total helplessness, has become their business. By begging, when these people earn 20 to 30 or 15 to 20 thousand rupees, then the whole month they don’t feel like working at all.

That is why, in this initiative of Youngisthan’s “Beggar-Free-India,” we are repeatedly saying that our country cannot be built until and unless this illness of begging is completely removed. There is also a need to wake up beggars’ self-respect. We need to explain to these people that the Constitution of India gives them the fundamental right to work and not to beg.

Well, if these people decide to stop begging, then it’ll be the state and central government’s moral duty to provide them with employment.