Hyderabad: Municipal officials and traffic police have commenced a drive against begging in the city, after a four-year-long study revealed startling findings. Begging is criminalised under the Beggars Act 1959, and anyone giving money can actually be fined.

The survey by the Common Man Forum has revealed that there are nearly 25,000 beggars in Hyderabad, of whom five to six per cent are real, and the rest fake or pretending to be beggars.

Of these fake beggars 40 per cent are children, brought mainly from Mahbubnagar, Medak, Guntur and Rajahmundry, and majority of them are male. Of the real beggars, majority are seniors citizens, with Aadhaar cards certifying that they are beggars.

“For every 400 persons there is a beggar in Hyderabad. On a daily average, these beggars collect more than Rs 75 lakh from people. Children collect `500 a day. From the collected money, they spend about 40-50 per cent on alcohol and narcotics, 20 per cent on food and rest they set aside,” said Jaya Prakash Bharat of the forum, whose four-year survey is being studied by officials.

Some women beggars beg during the day and the evening and at night work as sex workers. Some male beggars marry more than three women and have over 8-10 children and all of them resort to begging, he said.

“As per our observations, majority of male children are forced into begging and female children are forced into sex trafficking and illegal activities,” he pointed out.

Much of begging is cyclical. The reasons for the begging cycle include poor economic conditions; poverty, nature of birth environment, begging being hereditary, social discrimination, drug addiction, easy earnings, unemployment, and elderly beggars being abandoned by their children.

“The survey has also identified different types on beggars by studying their behaviour. The types include the usual irritating beggars; religious beggars, sympathy beggars – those with the handicapped, children and leprosy patients alongside. There are also migrating beggars, seasonal beggars, location-based beggars,” said Mr Sai Kumar from the forum.

A GHMC official said going by the study, the city would require more than 200 rehabilitation homes — separate ones for the sick the elderly and the children.

The GHMC is also asking to genuine beggars to register themselves for rehabilitation. It is seeking help of NGOs to make Hyderabad beggar-free.

“We aim to make Hyderabad a beggar-free city and find a permanent solution to the problem,” said additional commissioner of police (traffic), Jitender.