The sight of people — children, women, the elderly, disabled persons — pleading at traffic signals, railway platforms and outside temples is a distressing constant in Indian cities and towns. To the casual eye it appears a tale of individual need; under the surface it is a story of systemic failures, historical prejudice, marketable cruelty, and, too often, organized crime. This expanded essay traces the history and legal framing of begging in India and abroad, analyses the structural causes that compel people to beg, summarizes the international and domestic evidence on trafficking and organized begging, and examines Punjab’s recent Project Jeewanjyot-2 — a rare, science-based attempt to break child-begging networks and protect children.
1. Begging as history and law: from charity to criminalization
Begging in South Asia occupies a paradoxical cultural position. Religions that shape Indian life — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism — uphold daan (charity) and bhiksha (alms) as meritorious acts; in many pre-modern settings, giving alms was a social institution that regulated poverty and reciprocity. Overlaid on this tradition, however, is a legal and administrative history that increasingly treated visible poverty as a public order problem.
Under British rule, vagrancy and “wandering” populations were regulated and sometimes forcibly sedentarised (for example via the Criminal Tribes legislation), a governance approach that associated mobility and poverty with criminality. Post-independence, many states adopted variants of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act (1959) and similar statutes that defined begging broadly and authorized detention, institutional custody, and penal measures rather than long-term social solutions. Scholars and advocates argue these laws are a colonial legacy that continues to criminalize poverty rather than address its causes. India CodeResearchGate
Recent judgements and critiques have pushed back. Courts have emphasized the dignity and rights of homeless and destitute people and urged rehabilitative approaches — but state practice often remains more punitive than proactive. Law School Policy ReviewSAGE Journals
2. Why people beg: compulsion, exclusion and structural failure
Begging is rarely a free choice. The empirical and policy literature points to multiple, intersecting drivers:
• Poverty and lack of livelihoods. Large numbers of households lack reliable work, decent wages or land. Agrarian distress, seasonal work, failed rural safety nets and urban precarity push many to cities where the informal economy cannot absorb them. There is strong consensus that poverty is the primary driver of visible begging. JSWHR
• Disability and health crises. Persons with physical and mental disabilities are disproportionately represented among street beggars. With weak public health, rehabilitation and social security systems, families with disabled members may find no alternative. The ILO and specialist reviews note how disability increases vulnerability to coercion into street begging. International Labour Organization
• Social exclusion (caste, gender, ethnicity). Historical marginalization — caste-based exclusion, landlessness, and the social isolation of nomadic communities — leaves some groups with limited access to formal livelihoods. This structural exclusion can be multi-generational. Human-rights research documents the long shadow caste discrimination casts on economic opportunity. Human Rights Watch
• Family breakdown and displacement. Urban migration, conflict or family breakdown leaves elderly, abandoned women, and children without protection. Many street children come from fractured families or are separated during migration. UNICEF’s recent national study on children in street situations explains this mix of drivers and the resulting vulnerabilities. UNICEF
• Aspirational/behavioural factors are smaller but real. In some cases, patterns persist because of social reproduction (families who have historically relied on begging), limited schooling or perceived short-term earning returns from visible begging relative to other marginal work. But this is layered on the deeper structural drivers above. JSWHR
3. Organized exploitation: trafficking, maiming and forced begging
One of the most disturbing findings across international and Indian research is the role of organized exploitation in converting begging from survival behaviour into a criminal enterprise.
• Forced begging and trafficking. Numerous investigative reports, police operations and NGOs document organized gangs that traffic, sell or coerce children and adults into begging networks. A widely cited Reuters piece (reporting police estimates) noted hundreds of thousands of children forced to beg in India; specialized police/NGO rescue operations repeatedly uncover networks that set daily targets and confiscate the money collected. ReutersThe Times of India
• Maiming and deliberate disability to increase “pity” incomes. Multiple case studies and NGO reports from South Asia and elsewhere show that traffickers sometimes inflict injuries (e.g., by breaking limbs, disabling children, or staging visible wounds) to elicit more alms. Academic reviews of begging as a criminal activity document these practices in several countries and stress the trafficking connection. While reliable national counts are not available, the phenomenon is widely acknowledged in law-enforcement and NGO literature. Trend in Scientific ResearchAnti-Slavery International
• Sexual exploitation and forced prostitution. Reports from Human Rights Watch and anti-trafficking NGOs document trafficking routes that lead girls and women into sexual exploitation; rescue operations frequently uncover overlapping business models where children forced to beg are also vulnerable to sexual abuse and trafficking. That overlap — begging gangs connected to sex-trafficking networks — is well documented in trafficking literature. Human Rights Watch
• Claims that go beyond the evidence. Some sensational claims circulate (e.g., organ-harvesting linked directly to begging networks). These claims are occasionally repeated in media and activist commentary, but robust, peer-reviewed evidence tying organ-trafficking to urban begging syndicates in India remains limited. It’s important to distinguish widespread, well-documented abuses (trafficking, maiming, sexual exploitation, forced labour) from more extreme allegations that are less well documented. Where claims are not corroborated by reliable investigations, they should be reported carefully and noted as allegations. (See Reuters, academic reviews and Anti-Slavery/ILO reports for verified trafficking and forced begging evidence.) ReutersAnti-Slavery International
4. International perspective: not unique to India
Forced begging and trafficking is an international problem. Several regional reports document the trafficking of adults and children for forced begging or other forced crimes across Europe, Asia and Africa. For example:
• The ILO and Anti-Slavery organizations have documented trafficking for forced criminal activity — including begging — across multiple countries and regions, emphasizing the organized, transnational dimensions of the crime. International Labour OrganizationAnti-Slavery International
• Walk Free and other global slavery indexes place forced labour, bonded labour and trafficking in India within a global map of modern slavery — showing that while the specific forms differ, the fundamental drivers (poverty, weak enforcement, demand for cheap earnings) are shared internationally. Walk Free
Recognizing this global dimension helps policy makers borrow evidence-based tools used elsewhere (victim-centered prosecutions, multi-agency task forces, protection and long-term rehabilitation) while adapting them to Indian social reality.
5. Data and studies: what the research says (India & international)
Below are a few representative, credible studies/reports you can cite and follow up:
• UNICEF — Study of Children in Street Situations in India (nationwide study, recent): examines who street children are, their pathways, risks and recommended protections. This is essential reading for policy detail on children forced into street life. UNICEF
• ILO literature reviews and working papers on disabled beggars and forced criminal activities: summarize global evidence on how disability and trafficking intersect with forced begging. Useful for analyzing vulnerability categories. International Labour Organization+1
• Investigative reports & international NGOs (Anti-Slavery International, Human Rights Watch): document trafficking for forced begging, sexual exploitation and cross-border trafficking. These reports place Indian evidence in a wider context and provide case studies. Anti-Slavery InternationalHuman Rights Watch
• Academic studies & country case studies: several Indian law reviews, TISS dissertations and peer-reviewed papers analyze the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, the colonial legacy and contemporary rehabilitation alternatives. See TISS dissertations and critical reviews of the BPBA. TISSResearchGate
• Media investigations & police reports: Reuters’s investigation (and follow-up local reports) that estimated very large numbers of children in forced begging; and numerous press stories documenting police raids and rescues — these are important evidence of on-ground phenomena even if national incidence estimates vary. ReutersThe Times of India
6. The policy gap: criminal law without a coherent social strategy
India has a patchwork approach:
• Criminalizing statutes (based on the BPBA family of laws) still focus on detention, receiving centers and punishment. Critics argue this approach treats visible poverty as an offence rather than a social welfare failure. The Bombay Act’s broad definitions have been challenged in courts as arbitrary and dignity-violating. India CodeResearchGate
• New welfare impulses exist (for example the SMILE scheme by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment), but implementation, financing, coordination between departments (social welfare, police, child protection), and the capacity to rehabilitate large numbers of vulnerable people remain weak. Law School Policy Review
• Multi-agency failures. Effective response requires police, child-protection, social welfare, health, education and civil society to coordinate. Where coordination is absent, rescues can end up re-exposing children to exploiters, or detaining people without adequate rehabilitation plans. UNICEF and trafficking studies emphasize that rescue without long-term reintegration is ineffective and sometimes harmful. UNICEFInternational Labour Organization
7. Punjab’s Project Jeewanjyot-2: a path-breaking, child-centric experiment
In July 2025 Punjab introduced a carefully publicized initiative under Project Jeewanjyot-2 (Social Security, Women & Child Development Minister Baljit Kaur):
• DNA verification of children found begging with adults. District Deputy Commissioners are ordered to arrange DNA tests where the adult-child relationship appears suspicious; until results are in, children are placed under the supervision of Child Welfare Committees and housed in childcare institutions. If the adult is not biologically related, strong legal action is to follow. The Times of IndiaUNICEF
• Coordinated rescue & rehabilitation outcomes reported. Media reports record large numbers of rescues in short operations (for example, dozens in Ludhiana and hundreds across Punjab in concentrated drives), many reunifications where family ties are confirmed, and enrollment into Anganwadis, schools and short-term stipends or pensions for truly needy families. Authorities are also proposing amendments to the Punjab Prevention of Beggary Act (1971) to raise penalties for exploiters. The Times of India+1
Why this matters:
Scientific verification (DNA) helps quickly separate trafficked children from those who are truly accompanied by poor caregivers — reducing the risk of returning exploited children to exploiters masquerading as “guardians.”
Child-centered response (CWC supervision, institutional care while tests proceed) prevents immediate re-exposure.
Legal deterrence + welfare attempts to combine punishment for rackets with rehabilitation for victims — a dual track many experts recommend.
Caveats: DNA testing requires strict safeguards (informed consent where possible, privacy of genetic data, speedy turnaround so detention is not prolonged, robust reunification procedures, and transparent custody rules). Oversight and independent monitoring are critical if this model is scaled. The Times of IndiaUNICEF
8. Policy prescriptions: a strong, rights-based framework to replace the old punitive model
Based on the evidence above, a credible national approach should include:
1. Decriminalization of poverty; targeted repeal/amendment of punitive provisions in anti-begging laws, combined with clear definitions that focus on trafficking and exploitation rather than visible destitution. Judicial precedent already points in this direction. ResearchGate
2. Multi-agency rescue + rehabilitation protocols (police, CWC, health, education, NGOs) that prioritize child welfare and long-term reintegration — not just short-term rescue. UNICEF and ILO guidance emphasize this. UNICEFInternational Labour Organization
3. Anti-trafficking enforcement targeted at organized networks (investigate rings, money trails, transport networks, cross-border links), with victim-centered prosecutions and witness protection. International cooperation is often essential in cross-border trafficking cases. Anti-Slavery InternationalHuman Rights Watch
4. Social protection and pathways out of poverty — cash transfers, disability pensions, access to health, vocational training and education that reduce the economic calculus that pushes households toward dangerous alternatives. JSWHR
5. Public awareness & demand-side discouragement — reduce giving to organized child beggars; instead, channel donations to credible shelters, local anganwadis, or government welfare schemes. Civil society can run campaigns that redirect the public’s instinct to help in ways that reduce exploitation. haqcrc.org
6. Ethical use of forensic tools if used (e.g., DNA) — ensure legal safeguards (data protection, minimal retention, judicial oversight) and speed (so children are not held in limbo). Punjab’s DNA step is innovative, but it must be coupled with transparency and strong child-rights protections. The Times of India
9. Conclusion: honest realism, limited optimism
The problem of begging is not a single-issue social nuisance to be swept away by policing or cosmetic city beautification. It is a symptom — and a business — of underlying structural failures: inter-generational poverty, exclusion, inadequate social protection, and predatory criminal markets. India’s laws carry a colonial imprint that still tilts responses toward punishment; reform must reframe the problem as a welfare, child-protection and human-rights challenge.
Project Jeewanjyot-2 in Punjab is noteworthy because it pairs forensic verification with child-centered rescue and proposed legal strengthening against exploiters. If handled with robust safeguards, independent monitoring, and long-term rehabilitation investment, it could be a replicable model for other states. But this alone won’t end the problem — only a sustained national strategy that reduces poverty, provides social protection and dismantles trafficking networks can.
Representative sources and further reading
(Selected, balanced sources used above — a good starting reading list.)
i. UNICEF, Study of Children in Street Situations in India (national study/report). UNICEF
ii. Reuters, “Traffickers in India force 300,000 children to beg in streets: police” (investigative reporting on trafficking for begging). Reuters
iii. ILO publications and working papers on forced criminal activities and disability-linked begging. International Labour Organization+1
iv. Anti-Slavery International: Trafficking for Forced Criminal Activities and Begging in Europe (useful for international comparative context). Anti-Slavery International
v. Human Rights Watch reports on trafficking and sexual exploitation in India and the region. Human Rights Watch
vi. Critical legal reviews / TISS dissertations on the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 and anti-begging laws in India. India CodeTISS
vii. Recent Indian press coverage and official reporting on Punjab’s Project Jeewanjyot-2 and district rescue drives (Times of India / local press coverage). The Times of India
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