The initiative undertaken by the Hitaishi Foundation achieved great success when the Central Government included Panchkula among the 30 cities designated to become beggar-free. Foundation Chairman Bharat Hitaishi has been addressing the issue of the increasing number of beggars and crimes in Panchkula for the last two years. He raised this concern in a meeting with Haryana Assembly Speaker Gyanchand Gupta, after which Gyanchand Gupta added the eighth concern, making Panchkula beggar-free, to his existing seven concerns.
A plan has been devised by the Central Government to make 30 cities beggar-free, and Panchkula from Haryana has been selected for this initiative. The Central Government will conduct a survey of people forced to beg, and proper arrangements will be made for their rehabilitation. Through this effort, there will be an attempt to provide a respectable life to every citizen of the country, allowing beggars to move forward step by step with the development of the country.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Central Government will oversee the scheme and is currently identifying places in Panchkula where people are seen begging. Bharat Hitaishi has offered all possible support to Speaker Gyan Chand Gupta on behalf of the Hitaishi Foundation for the rehabilitation of beggars.
An India Well-wisher noted that at red-light intersections, women pretend to be pregnant and emotionally blackmail pedestrians with a child in their lap to get Rs 10-20. It has also been observed that if some food item is offered instead of cash, they become unresponsive. While expressing concern over the significant problems faced by city residents due to beggars, the India sympathizer stated that begging is a matter of compulsion for some people, whereas now it has become a business.
Foundation patrons Sanjay Ahuja, BM Kaushik, and Chief Advisor Prof. BK Gupta expressed their anger, mentioning that a gang of child beggars is active at the traffic lights of the city. Women beggars carrying small children in their arms harass drivers by banging begging bowls on the doors and mirrors of vehicles. These beggars should be arrested under the Haryana Prevention of Beggars Act 1971, and children should be shifted to Snehalaya, female beggars to Nari Niketan, and elderly beggars to an Old Age Home to ensure the safety of Panchkula residents. Organization Minister Subhash Sharma, Project Director GD Batra, and Tarsem Garg expressed concern that young beggars ring doorbells to beg and, at times, enter the courtyards of houses to harass elderly women. This is very worrying and serious from a security point of view.
Theft can occur at any time from vehicles stopped at lights due to these beggars. There may also be criminal elements roaming in the city disguised as beggars, who can commit major crimes whenever they get a chance.
Beggars conduct reconnaissance of houses in the city under the guise of begging. Later, they commit incidents of theft, snatching, and fraud. Once Panchkula becomes beggar-free, these crimes will also be stopped. It is stated that under the country’s amended law in 2015, a person guilty of mutilating children and making them beg can be punished with imprisonment of 7 to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.
India well-wishers, including NK Khosla, Kusum Arora, Brijlal Jain, Sunil Gupta, SP Vij, Shiv Kumar Verma, GC Kaushik, and Ravi Bhardwaj, strongly urged that legal action should be taken against the beggars in Panchkula to ensure the complete safety of the people of Panchkula.