Hyderabad: Any person found begging on the streets is liable to be prosecuted under Section 188 of the IPC for disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant and under provisions of the TS Prevention of Begging Act of 1977, which entails a jail sentence.

These orders have been issued weeks before the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in which several hundreds of delegates from across the globe are expected to participate. They will be enforced for a period of two months and are expected to bring some much-needed relief to the residents of the city who are harassed by beggars at traffic junctions, parks, cinema halls and other public places.

This move is also expected to prevent young children from being exploited by organised begging gangs.

The police will invoke provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 against women who carry infants with them while seeking alms.

Beggars pose big problem to traffic
The official notification states, “It has come to my notice, through the public, that many beggars are begging for alms in an indecent manner. They are also employing children and handicapped persons to solicit or receive alms at the main junctions.

“Such acts are causing annoyance and awkwardness by exposing in an indecent manner to divert the attention of the vehicular traffic, as well as pedestrians and the public in general, to induce them to give alms.”

It further states that such acts may dangerous to the public in general. While indecent and awkward activities cause nuisance, annoyance, embarrassment, the obstruction of the free movement of vehicular traffic is a danger to motorists as well as pedestrians. The Balala Hakkula Sangham has welcomed these orders.

As per a survey conducted by voluntary organisations, there are about 14,000 beggars in the city, 1500 of whom are children.