Mudasir Rashid
Ganderbal: On the arrival of Summer season and before ‘DARBAR MOVE’ scores of non-locals with the intention of making quick bucks reached to Kashmir valley and made lives of people miserable. With the enormous increase in number of Non-local beggars, have marked particular areas of Srinagar, Ganderbal especially busy destinations of Lal-Chowk and Mini-Secretariat Ganderbal. Most of them are from distant lands like UP, Bihar and other states as well can be seen holding small babies in arms at virtually every busy intersection in Valley.
The rising number of beggars is now increasingly turning out to be a nuisance for the people walking and driving on the Srinagar and Ganderbal roads. Beggars, mostly non-local women, some donning Kashmiri attire or Burka and children in shabby clothing, can be seen invoking every deity while begging for alms.
Most of these beggars are professionally trained to take advantage of people’s emotions and pity and force them to give money to them. These beggars often operate in groups and have literally laid siege most destinations, offices and mosques in Kashmir Valley.
“Every dignified person find it really embarrassing when these beggars fall at their feet for alms and then refuse to budge. This forces most of the people to drop money into their outstretched hands in order to escape from their clutches,” one employees of Mini-Secretariat Ganderbal said.
Poverty is just one side of the story, begging is another. On the arrival of summer season begging in valley has become a big racket. For many, begging is just like any other profession. They go out to earn money, not by working. It’s strange but true that some of these beggars earn in thousands and lakhs, much more than a normal middle class worker, Shop owner of Kangan added.
Despite the law against begging, the menace continues unabated as thousands of tourists have arrived in the Valley, as have hundreds of non-local beggars. Authorities should take effective measures against the increasing problem of begging in the Valley including district, another shopkeeper said.
Kashmir Age in its survey also found various non-local beggars, near different Sumo stands in valley, sit five times on main gate of every mosque in Kashmir, tourist destinations, public places even government offices and Mini-Secretariat Ganderbal” most of them children, stationed at various points from Kangan market also. Most of them are different locations from Srinagar to Ganderbal. Massive growth of beggars in Srinagar and adjoining areas who create nuisance at public places turned into a big nuisance menace with people demanding an immediate end to the growing menace.
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