LAHORE: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Punjab home department has set up beggary barracks in every jail across the province, increasing the total capacity to 10,000 beggars with spaces for women and children as well.

In Lahore’s two jails, the department has designated barracks to keep 1,000 beggars while others will be accommodated in the jails of Kasur, Sheikhpura, Gujranwala, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Narowal, etc.

The prisons department has managed food and other facilities to be provided to the beggars besides other facilities to rehabilitate them to bring them back to normal life.

The sources said the large-scale arrangements were made in all the 39 jails of Punjab after the cabinet approved amendments to the Punjab Vagrancy Ordinance 1958, making the beggary a cognisable and non-bailable offence.

They said the home department came up with the amendments following reports that the beggary has become an organised crime particularly during the last a decade or so.

It was reported that the hardened criminals were operating several notorious groups of the beggars across the province, particularly, in major cities, including Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala etc.

The most irritating part of the reports was that they had ‘outsourced the beggars’ and major roads, intersections and signals, markets, parks and other public places of the province, mainly of Lahore.

A report of the UNICEF claimed that more than 80 per cent professional beggars were involved in drug addiction, prostitution, child abuse, human trafficking, pick pocketing and other petty crimes.

The recent police reports raised the alarm stating that the poor people were selling their children to the organised gangs operated by the begging mafia.

In some underhand dealing, they were getting the children on daily wages against a petty amount, said an official.

He said the criminals running the begging groups used to prefer the disabled kids, women and elderly people to earn money many times more than the healthy ones.

Some hardened criminals were also involved in the heinous crime of making the normal beggars ‘disabled’ through severing of their hands or legs before sending them to the streets, revealed the official.

Similarly, he said, they were involved in abducting the children from the surroundings of the shrines, railway platforms, streets, parks and bus stands.

The Lahore police had recently busted a network of the organised and notorious criminals/groups, operating the beggars.

The official said the Punjab home department moved a summary to tighten the noose around the organised criminals by introducing some amendments to the Vagrancy Ordinance 1958.

He said the provincial cabinet accorded approval in the 15th meeting held on Sept 16, 2024.

The chief minister had approved the placement of a draft legislative proposal (vetted by the law department) before the cabinet in terms of rule 33 (5) of the Punjab government rules of business.

The provincial cabinet in its meeting held on Dec 19, 2024 had approved the draft bill/legislative proposal, he said.

“The draft bill to amend Vagrancy Ordinance 1958 is currently pending in the provincial assembly for final approval”, the official said.

To a question, he said, in section 2, definitions of “person” & “organiser” have been added for the first time.

In the existing law, the punishment for begging was just one year with fine (no amount has been specified as such) as per section 10.

“In the proposed amendments, enhanced punishments, both prison terms as well as specified fine amounts have been proposed for all categories (persons involved in begging, begging along with mutilation of limbs, begging through children etc) through newly created section 10 a, 10b, 10c and 10d”, the official said.

Furthermore, he said, in the existing arrangement, beggary was non-cognisable and bailable offence. However, through amendment in section 19, the begging has been made cognisable and non-bailable.

Similarly, since quantum of punishment through the proposed amendments has been enhanced, its trial can’t be held through Magistrate First Class anymore.

“Hence its trial would now be held by the Court of Sessions as per chapter 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code”, the official said.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2025