Begging is a common scene at different traffic points in the city, though it is the most degrading job for a living. Vagrants beg alms from passing vehicles in the streets. The photo was taken in Kakrail area recently.Photo: STAR

The government will engage at least seven ministries and non-government organisations (NGOs) in making the country free of beggars by 2021, said a deputy secretary of the social welfare ministry.
Social welfare ministry will be the secretariat while home, land, youth and sports, health and family welfare, women and children affairs, labour and employment ministries, local government division and Bureau of Statistics will also work to conduct the countrywide survey and rehabilitate beggars.
A steering committee, led by the social welfare ministry, will run the programme at a cost of about Tk 13 crore, which will be implemented in two phases survey and rehabilitation.
The programme has three components rehabilitation and engagement of rural beggars in income generation at their own villages, urban beggars excepting Dhaka city, and floating beggars as well as slum dwellers of the capital.
The beggars would be divided into four categories - children between 12 years, male and female beggars aged between 12 years and 50 years, above 50 years and beggars with disabilities.
The child beggars will be provided primary education, vocational and technical training and then be provided with employment opportunities.
The beggars aged between 12 and 50 years would be offered training as per their qualifications while those with above 50 years and disabilities would be offered permanent rehabilitation under the shelter or residence project.
The beggars with disabilities will get training based on their abilities and will also be offered micro-credit for income generation, said the ministry officials.
A pilot programme will be implemented in fiscal 2010-12 to set up eight rehabilitation centres in four beggars-prone cities. A centre will have the capacity to rehabilitate 250 beggars and 2,000 beggars will be rehabilitated at the centres.
COUNTRYWIDE SURVEY
The countrywide survey will be conducted in all six divisional cities. Dhaka will be divided into four zones for the survey. The survey is aimed at identifying the number of beggars, gender, age, addresses (root village), causes of begging, types of begging and their social-economic conditions.
The survey will take only 60 days and it will be completed by June, said Social Welfare Secretary Quomaran Nessa Khanam.
The field offices of statistical bureau and NGOs would be involved in this survey. There are estimated seven lakh beggars across the country. A total of 6.14 crore will be spent to conduct the survey.
BEGGARS REHABILITATION ACT
The cabinet meeting last month approved a bill proposing provisions of imprisonment and fine for offences of forced begging or maiming anybody for alms.
The bill proposed three-year imprisonment and Tk 1 lakh in fine for forcing someone to beg. It also proposed five-year imprisonment and Tk 5 lakh in fine for cutting off anybody's limbs or gouging out eyes for making him/her a beggar, said a deputy secretary of the concerned ministry.
The cabinet approved the bill to update the Vagrancy Act of 1943 by incorporating strict provisions against forced begging and also make the country beggar-free by 2021.