PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has identified 1463 professional beggars in Peshawar city with a monthly income of more than Rs300,000 each, said a report prepared by Peshawar district.
The report said that professional beggars are collecting thousands of rupees on daily bases. After Peshawar, work is underway to identify professional beggars in Charsadda and Nowshera and major cities before launching the anti-beggary campaign against professional beggars.
“There are 1,463 professional beggars in Peshawar city with estimated income of Rs300, 000 per month,” said that the reported prepared by the committee headed by Assistant Commissioner Peshawar Dr Ehtesham-ul-Haq. The committee is setup by the government to collect data before launching operation against professional beggars, drugs addicts and drug peddlers.
The officials said that there is an organised mafia behind the beggars, which include women and children, and every effort will be made to root them out from the city. The report revealed, “Beggars in important commercial areas, such as Peshawar sadder, earn an average of Rs6, 000 per day while in push areas such as university town and Hayatabad a beggar earn an estimated Rs10, 000 per day.”
Commissioner Peshawar Division Riaz Khan Mehsud said in a statement that after receiving data from committees in other districts of Peshawar Division – Nowshera, Charsadda, Mohmand and Khyber District – the administration will launch an organised operation against the beggars’ mafia to expose and wiped them out of the cities.
The decision to launch operation against beggars and drug mafia was taken on 14 October in a meeting chaired by commissioner Peshawar. The commissioner vowed in a statement that Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera and Khyber District will completely be cleared from professional beggars and drug addicts. The meeting was informed that a strategy has been worked out on special orders of the provincial government to rid the four districts of beggars and drug addicts.
Legislation has also been presented to KP assembly to end beggary in the province and recommend strict punishment for professional beggars.