Who Cares for Poor? A Case Study on Beggars in India

The present empirical study aims to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of beggar population and to find out the causes of begging. The adverse effects of this profession on the health, incidence of bad habits among the beggars and the problems faced by them have been also taken into account. The study is based on primary source of data, collected through the field survey and direct questionnaire to the respondents in the Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh during 2009. The study reveals that beggars are the most deprived section of the society who begged for sustaining their livelihood, living in abject poverty and on the mercy of people. It has been found that majority of beggars belongs to adult age-group (15-44), while, share of dependant population (particularly 0 to 15 years young age group) is higher in the rural areas of the district. The incidence of early marriages and big household size are very common among the beggars in the study area. Moreover, 86.5 per cent beggars ‟ population was illiterate and the average daily income of the beggars is 51-100 per day. The major causes which compelled them to engage themselves in begging are poverty, casteism and illiteracy. Majority of them suffer from tuberculosis, followed by anemia, weakness, leprosy etc. Poverty, low income, unemployment, low standard of housing and lack of civic amenities and facilities are their major problems