RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi’s traffic police has accelerated the on-going campaign against professional beggars, arresting 1,269 from the city’s roads during February.
The In-charge Anti-Begging Squad City Traffic Police (CTP); speaking to APP, urged the citizens to play their role in discouraging professional beggars.
The CTP has also lodged a large number of first information reports (FIRs) in different police stations against beggars caught from different areas, he said.
The police officer said they are trying to eliminate begging from the city roads and many professional beggars had caught and sent behind bars.
The squad’s chief noted that out of the total beggars caught; nearly 80% were professionals.
“60% beggars caught from city roads were healthy and fit;
while only 20% found disabled persons and 20% are drug addicts,” he informed.
Whereas A large number of beggars have brought to Rawalpindi from Southern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh; and other far-flung areas of the country; who operate through contractors, he said.
Even, Hundreds of beggar children netted from the city roads were handed over to Child Protection Bureau (CPB), the police officer added.
It is almost impossible to find a street without beggars in Pakistan. As per current estimates; there are between five and 25 million beggars in Pakistan, which would be approximately 2.5 to 11 percent of our total population.
The writer is Freelancer, associated with Medical Profession ,working towards PhD in Healthcare Management.