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No room for beggars

26 Jan 2021

  • SL’s only centre for beggars at capacity

  By Dinitha Rathnayake   The Ridiyagama Detention Centre for Beggars, the only detention centre in the country that accommodates beggars, is at full capacity at 600 inmates with no room left to house anymore, The Morning learnt. Department of Social Services Director Chandana Ranaweera Arachchi told The Morning that the Police and prisons officials have also inquired regarding the issue. “The camp can only facilitate about 600 persons. However, now there are around 600 detainees at the camp, thus making the available resources insufficient to cater to the increased number of people. Most of the detainees have been directed there following a court ruling,” Ranaweera Arachchi told The Morning when questioned regarding the situation concerning beggars. The Ridiyagama Centre, which is under the Social Services Department, houses beggars who get arrested, whether they had resorted to begging due to circumstances, or by choice of vocation. Beggars presently constitute a risk category for both contracting and transmitting Covid-19 owing to their frequent movements. When queried about the beggars who have tested positive for Covid-19 and about random testing being conducted among beggars, Ranaweera Arachchi said that this responsibility lies with the health officials. Furthermore, he noted that some beggars were sent to the hospital to do Covid-19 tests after the Police found them on the roads. Beggars can be arrested by the Police under the Vagrants Ordinance and be produced before courts. “Apart from Ridiyagama, we don't have a place to detain them and the current law regarding this subject also needs to change since it has not been updated,” Ranaweera Arachchi added. Further, according to Ranaweera Arachchi, there are no statistics to ascertain as to how many beggars are there in the country.  However, conservative figures indicate that 85,000-100,000 beggars are found in Sri Lanka. Usually, some elderly beggars are also sent to elders’ homes, but due to Covid-19 testing and the pandemic risk, this process is not underway at the moment. “The concept of begging has now emerged as a commercial business worth millions of rupees. Begging can be considered to be an ultimate form of helplessness. But I have seen fit and healthy persons sit on footpaths and standing near road signals, just to beg. This is dependency. They are the individuals of the working class who have become fatalistic. By giving them money, we also help them become addicted. If we stop this, we can at least reduce beggars by 10%,” he claimed. According to Southern Province Commissioner of Social Welfare, Probation, and Child Care Mahesh Rajitha Karunanayake, who spoke to The Morning, most of the detainees at the Ridiyagama Detention Centre are those in different age groups, including the elderly, the frail, and the disabled. “We have 625 detainees and the lack of staff and buildings are the serious issues we have,” said Karunanayake. Ranaweera Arachchi added: “This centre was established during the 1950s and was given to the Southern Provincial Council in the 1990s with dilapidated buildings. However, the buildings are now renovated.” Speaking to The Morning, University of Kelaniya Department of Sociology Senior Prof. K. Karunathilake said that, nowadays, everything has changed and, concurring with Ranaweera Arachchi, noted that begging has become a business. “They are not asking for money because they are helpless to do anything, but are doing it for their own benefit. Asking people for charity using different methods has now become a profession. Beggars are dropped by vehicles to locations at which they are supposed to beg at certain set times of the day. For example, one beggar from a group of beggars would beg from noon till evening and then the other beggar would beg from evening till night. This is unethical of them as they are deceiving people to show themselves as helpless and needy people. Some of the beggars behave so badly that they even use words that are enough to upset each one of us. Apart from that, some beggars even abuse people who refuse to give them money. Imagine earning Rs. 100 per hour. This can be a minimum amount for some. Citizens must understand that giving some money to people who beg on the street is not a benign act. It could have fatal consequences,” noted Karunathilake. He informed The Morning that although he had personally attempted to assist the Department of Social Services to identify the number of beggars in Sri Lanka so that a profile could be made about them with a view to rehabilitate them, none of these ideas had worked out due to the change of government. The important steps towards controlling begging would be, according to Karunathilake, creating awareness among the public, building the necessary infrastructure, and appreciating the links between poverty, unemployment, disabilities, destitution and begging, and devising suitable solutions. A recent sample study done by a research group has revealed that 79% of the beggars in Sri Lanka are physically sound and free of chronic diseases. Nearly 84% of the beggars who formed the sample in the latter study are against engaging in employment even if opportunities for such are afforded to them while 90% prefer to engage in begging over receiving state social welfare benefits.


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