9000 beggars picked off Hyderabad streets, 300 sent to rehab

The beggars are being picked up by Prison Department to make Hyderabad a beggar-free state.

HYDERABAD: The 'Beggar-free' drive continued in Hyderabad with almost 9000 beggars being picked up by Prison department. 

The department claims to have sent 300 beggars to rehabilitation centres where they will be provided with education and employment opportunities, as reported by ANI. 

The Inspector General of Telangana Department Narsimha says that he wants to implement the drive in the entire state. "The motto of Telangana Prison Department is to make the Hyderabad beggar free City and we wanted to implement this drive throughout the Telangana state. The prisons DG has also written a letter to Telangana government to obtain orders to implement the beggar free drive all over Telangana," said Narasimha.

The drive which started in November 2017 aims at eradicating beggars from the city and providing them employment in prison petrol bunks, garden cleaning activities. 

The initiative started with identifying and picking up beggars from the streets. The prison department had previously started by setting up two beggar homes - one in Chanchalguda jail for male beggars and another in Challapalli jail for female beggars. 

It was reported that the beggars were provided with all kinds of basic facilities in the homes.  The prison department has also conducted several programs to boost the morals of the beggars. 

(With ANI inputs)