Beggar syndrome and criminal syndicates

The widening gap between the haves and the have-nots

by Indeewara Thilakarathne

Although the beggars roaming along the busy streets constitute a minute segment of the bustling metropolitan, their influence on the stability and sustainability of a crime free society is overwhelming in terms of formation of social networks which, at some stage, facilitate the breeding of criminal syndicates leading to intractable socio-economic issues.

Obviously the root cause of sprawling slums which grows along side skyscrapers is not only symbolized the growing economic disparity between the haves and have-nots but is also an indication of abject poverty precipitated by ignorance.

As these slum-dwellers are both ignorant and uneducated and cut off completely from the mainstream economic activities, there are more or less confined to informal economic activities ranging from begging, drug peddling to prostitution.

The researches have found out that the beggars roaming alone the busy city streets individually or in small groups are operating in a rent levying system. For instance, the beggar-boss or the person who controls the syndicate demands a certain fixed amount from each beggar, allocating the routes that they should walk along or busy places where beggars should practice the 'profession' during the day.

The considerable proportion of the income generated by beggars is spent either on consuming liquor or purchasing drug. It has also been an established fact that most of the beggars are drug addicts cum drug peddlers.

The impoverished communities housed in shanty towns and slums facilitates, among other things, criminal syndicates, prostitution, child labour and sexually exploitation of children.

How urban poverty help foster begging

The vicious circle of poverty, total or partial economic exclusion of vulnerable and marginalized segments, including slum dwellers and beggars, from mainstream economic activities virtually sustained poverty preventing them from improving their economic and living conditions.

According to sociologist Mary Racelis, the urban poverty is created and reinforced by policies and institutional arrangements. This situation is further exacerbated by migration of unskilled labour force from poverty stricken villages to cities owing to limited or restricted access to basic facilities in villages such as health, education, water and convenient mode of transport that inhibits development of human potentials.

Although most of the rural migrants would not end up as beggars, the rural migrants substantially contribute to the phenomenal grown of shanty towns. Those who could not economically sustain themselves by engaging in minor employment opportunities offered by the city in transport sector and menial labour will eventually join the beggar syndicates.

Non existence of a proper social security system, systematic approach to tackling beggar issue and the issue of street children not only hamper the development process but also pose a serious threat to long term social stability as these vulnerable elements could be exploited by growing under world gangs and criminal syndicates which are maintaining links with terrorists.

Child vendors and child beggars

Child vendors and child beggars converged in busy quarters of the city or getting on to buses and walking along in the trains is a common sight. It has been observed that most of the child vendors have little or no idea of what they are selling.

The goods they sell differ from one child vendor to another and varies from balloons to cheap books obtained from the black market. They often recite the same trade jargons, their parents recite in the bus.

Some of the child beggars were trained to perform acrobatics on the pavement and engaged in life? threatening exercises such as ? eating glass?, hanging on hooks. It seemed that these children were forced to engage in those daring acts, often, endangering their lives.

They are also forced to memorize trade slogans and hobble up and down the train in the hope some passenger would buy something out of annoyance or out of sympathy.

The child beggars are also disturbing to the passengers. These child beggars are from some impoverished communities who engage in minor employment such as knife sharpening and cobbling.

This has become a menace as these child beggars often in small groups harass the commuters, some times, even pinching the sleeping commuters in order to extract rupee or two.

It is obvious that the taste of money would lure these children into exploiting illegal means of earning and engaging in criminal activities from pick-pocketing to robbing.

The spill over effect of poverty in general, beggars and marginalized segments in particularly would pose a serious threat to not only the long term stability and the maintenance of a crime free society but also the very survival of the society, particularly, in the light of increasing close cooperation between underworld and global terrorism net work.

Increasing possibility of exploiting child beggars for arms dealings and use in suicide missions can not be ruled out against the back drop of changing lethal tactics of the terrorists. On the other hand, the shanty towns which provide safe heaven for criminal elements would also facilitate terrorists in terms of smuggling of arms into the city and providing facilities for them to establish cells in and around the city which can be activated in emergency terrorist operations. Besides, terrorists employing beggars and especially child vendors and child beggars for reconnaissance activities in the city, though a remote possibility, could not be ruled out. Therefore, it is necessary that poverty alleviation measures such as introducing micro-credit schemes, empowering women, education and the rehabilitation of street children should be taken in order to engage them in gainful employment and to stamp out the beggar menace from the society.

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