AP Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu has offered the beggars a cash benefit of Rs 5000 to the beggars for not begging on the Pushkar ghats. The administration has announced the scheme along with the promise of free food, on a condition that the beggars should keep off the Mahakumbh of the south till July 25.The beggars promptly rejected the offer, because they are confident that they can earn more than what government offer in one day.

There is another problem cropping up that hordes of people and not all of them are beggars, are queuing up for reparation. The locals are trying to exploit the offer by submitting themselves as beggars. Rules of the government initiative states that, only beggars without ration cards and access to welfare schemes like the NTR Bharosa pension scheme are eligible for the largesse.

"So far, we've identified 200 beggars within the town, but surprisingly others are approaching us as well. We'll provide reimbursement to genuine beggars after verification at the end of the Pushkaram," said East Godavari collector and GPOC member H Arun Kumar. The committee runs a check on the fingerprints of beggars and match these with the ration card data to ensure reimbursement claimants are not fake.

"The beggar reimbursement scheme is not new for Naidu. The government had used the same trick to shift beggars from Hyderabad to a rehabilitation centre during President Clinton's visit in 2000," a police officer said.

A beggar at Pushkar Ghat said, "I've no home or income and have been begging here for the past decade. I can't go from here to some other place. Moreover, the entire town is packed with pilgrims. I want to ask the government who is responsible for people like me seeking alms?"

Tarique Qureshi, who started a project named ‘Koshish’ aimed at working for the rights and rehabilitation of beggars in Mumbai said, “Rather than such schemes, the government should take long-term corrective measures to develop the capacities of beggars to enable them to live a better life.”

By Premji