SC refuses to ban begging, says 'no one would like to beg if not for poverty'

New Delhi: Refusing to ban begging, the Supreme Court has termed it as a socio-economic problem while seeking replies from the Centre and the Delhi government on a PIL to vaccinate all beggars and homeless people in the national capital.

The petitioner's demand to restrain vagabonds and the homeless from begging to avoid movement and spread of COVID cases wasn't accepted by the court, as the 2-judge bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah refrained from taking an elitist view and observed: "No one would like to beg if not for poverty".  

Noting that beggars can't just be "wished away from public places and traffic junctions", the court held the beggars and the homeless take to the streets to eke out an elementary livelihood



due to poverty.

The court stressed upon the need for a wider social welfare policy by Centre and state governments to rehabilitate beggars, especially the kids living at traffic junctions and other public places, and provide for their education and employment to ensure that they can lead a better life.

The court will hear the PIL after 2 weeks, which also wants rehabilitation of beggars with adequate provisions for their food and shelter. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has been asked to assist the court in the case. The PIL claimed that unhindered movement of the homeless and beggars may lead to increased transmission of the COVID, and sought urgent action to rehabilitate them in view of threats posed by an impending 3rd wave of the pandemic.