Prosecute beggars, says NGO (The Hindu . Dt :Sunday, May 02, 2010)

Act provides for arrest of anyone begging without warrant .
HYDERABAD: Although two months have passed after AP Prevention of Begging Rules, 2010 was enacted into law, little has been done to enforce it at the ground level. Despite the rules mandating enforcement authorities to arrest beggars no arrests were made across the State, Abhipraay, an NGO fighting against beggary said here on Saturday. The Rules were passed by the State's Social Welfare Department on March 31 to implement the AP Prevention of Begging Act, 1977. “The rules came after 33 years after a lot of struggle. We were forced to go to the Court, file a write petition and wait for a long time before the rules were framed,” said Bhaskar Poluri, an advocate who works with Abhipray. “If they had implemented the Act in 1977, we would have abolished beggary by today. We want the government to the Act as per rules without any delay.” The Act authorises any police officer above the rank of a Sub-Inspector or a revenue officer above the rank of a Tahsildar or District Probation Officer to arrest without a warrant any person begging in a public place. After medical check-up by a doctor not below the rank of an assistant civil surgeon who determines age, sex and physical and mental fitness of a beggar, he/she has to be produced before the Court that enquires into the respective case. “If the beggar is found guilty of the offence under the Act and is physically capable of doing manual labour, the court would order his detention in a workhouse for a specified period not exceeding three years,” said Suresh Pandit, co-ordinator. The government, either by itself or assisted by NGOs, has to provide elementary education and vocational training towards rehabilitating them. http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/02/stories/2010050260100200.htm