The city police, in association with the Department of Women and Child Development, and members of several NGOs conducted a special drive against begging and rescued 43 persons including 15 women and 28 minor children, including 14 boys and girls each, found begging at the traffic junctions. The rescued children have been handed over to Child Welfare Committee for further action, police said. The women have been sent to the Government Home for Women.
The drive was taken up from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday at all major junctions across the city. It will continue, sources said. It was conducted following a series of complaints from the members of the public, especially motorists, about the rise in begging, which many complained was disrupting traffic and creating a nuisance at the junctions.
As many as 39 teams comprising police officials, officials of the Women and Child Development Department and NGOs have been formed and dispatched at major junctions across the city. Jurisdictional ACPs have been deputed as nodal officers to monitor and supervise the drive.
It may be recalled that a similar drive was launched in February and October of 2021 where as many as 1,000 people including women and children found begging at traffic junctions were rescued and handed over to CWCs. The city police had carried out one of the biggest drives under the name ‘Operation Smile’ to control begging and trace missing children in 2016.
