Puri: The district administration will soon launch the Niladri Nilaya Yojana to make Puri a beggar-free city.
Puri district Collector Balwant Singh, Sunday, chaired a review meeting on the proposed scheme and asked the officials and members of some voluntary outfits to exercise sensitivity and care while dealing with the beggars.
According to Singh, a total of eight Niladri Nilayas or rehabilitation centres for beggars will function in Puri district. “The Niladri Nilaya Yojana in Puri district will be launched with assistance from the Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) department,” Singh said.
According to the district collector, at least 50 beggars would be rehabilitated in each Niladri Nilaya. Apart from providing food and shelter facilities, the administration will take steps to bring the beggars to the mainstream society. “We will try to contact the family and relatives of each beggar. Our officials will counsel the beggars. There would be special care for differently-abled, old and mentally-challenged beggars,” he said.
District administration sources said four officials of Puri municipality and members of some voluntary outfits will start counseling to the beggars, March 3.
The social welfare officers with the help of NGOs would identify the loitering beggars, cured leprosy patients found begging in the streets, mentally retarded and physically challenged persons found begging in the streets and put them in shelter homes.
Since it is a very sensitive and difficult work the administration decided to rope in the help of residents, police and NGOs for the purpose.
The four community organisers of Puri municipality were entrusted to work with NGOs to identify and enumerate the beggars. They would be provided with food, clothing and other basic amenities. Specialists would conduct counselling of these persons.
This apart, social workers would collect their address and contact their relatives after they become mentally and physically fit to return to their homes.
Funds would be provided from the PRAFUL yojana for the purpose, informed Trinath Padhi the district social security officer.
Earlier, many social activists and intellectuals have urged the district administration and the municipal authorities to take immediate steps to relocate beggars from near Srimandir and the sea beach. They claimed that many devotees and tourists often face harassment by the beggars near Srimandir and on the beach.
There were allegations that the beggars often compel devotees to provide them with money and food. They allegedly harass visitors and hurl abuses at them when they refuse to meet their requests. Sometimes, the beggars quarrel among themselves and create inconveniences for the pilgrims, sources said.
It is worth mentioning here that the SSEPD Minister Ashok Chandra Panda recently informed the Odisha Assembly that the Puri has 366 beggars. However, some private sources claimed that the number is much higher than the official figure.
