On March 8, the Nagpur Police issued an order prohibiting begging near traffic junctions and public places in the city. A G20, or Group of 20 nations, summit was scheduled in the city from March 21-22.
The order was issued under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that empowers an executive magistrate to bar the assembly of four or more people. It also prescribed a six-month jail term for violators.
This is not the first time that Indian cities have been cleared of beggars and destitute individuals for “beautification”. In 2017, the Hyderabad police banned begging weeks before the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, citing inconvenience to people and traffic. In 2009, before the Commonwealth Games were held in Delhi, the national capital was swept clear of beggars.
The criminalisation of begging affects the most marginalised and vulnerable members of society, who rely on begging to survive. It is this very fact that states ignore by either driving beggars away from public spaces or by detaining them.
