Shri Thaawarchand
Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment chaired a Pre-legislative
Consultation Meeting on 'The Persons in Destitution (Protection, Care and
Rehabilitation) Model Bill, 2016' organized by the Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment here today. Smt. Anita Agnihotri, Secretary of M/o SJ&E and
senior officers of the ministry participated in the Presentation and Open
Discussion in the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to seek
opinions/views on the Model Legislation drafted by the Ministry and call upon
the States/UTs to adopt the legislation.
Addressing on the occasion, Shri
Thaawarchand Gehlot said that the Bill will provide protection, care, support,
shelter, training and other services to all persons in destitution. The
approach of the Ministry towards addressing the problem of destitution/beggary
is rehabilitative rather than punitive. He expressed his concern that the
number of destitutes are increasing in our country. He called upon all
stakeholders to share their views and suggestions for the eradication of the
problem of destitution.
Smt. Anita Agnihotri, Secretary of M/o
SJ&E in her introductory address dwelt upon the salient features of the
Bill.
The Ministry has drafted a Model
Legislation for the Persons in Destitution on the basis of recommendations that
emerged from the National Consultation Meetings held with
State Representatives, Experts in the field of Beggary etc. The objective of
the Bill is to provide for the protection, care, support, training and other
services to persons in destitution and for establishing agencies to further the
objectives identified there under.
As many as 20 States and 2 UTs have
either enacted their own legislation or adopted the legislation enacted by
other States. However, the provisions of these legislations differ across the
States and their status of implementation, including the measures taken for
rehabilitation of beggars, is also not uniform. Most of the States/UTs have
adopted "The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959" which
criminalizes begging. As per Census 2011, population of Beggars and Vagrants
is about 4.13 lakhs (3.72 lakhs non-worker category and 41,453 marginal workers
category), details about the population of destitutes are not available.
The meeting was attended by the Representative
senior officers of Social Welfare Departments of the State Governments and
Union Territory Administrations, representatives from concerned
Ministries/Departments, Social Workers, representatives from the Law
Commission, Bar Council and reputed NGOs working for the welfare of Destitutes.
*****
Sanjay
Kumar/jk/SJ&E-1/19.10.2016