 bill no 7 of 2010the abolition of begging  bill, 2010by shri prasanta kumar majumdar, mpa billto provide for abolition of begging and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-first year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the  abolition of begging  act, 2010short title and extent(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "beggar" means a person who indulges in begging; (c) "begging" means—(i) soliciting or receiving alms in a public place including railways, busstops, road sides or any other place where public has access;(ii) exposing or exhibiting any wound, deformity or disease of self or of any other person or of an animal for the purpose of soliciting or collecting alms;(iii) allowing one self to be used as an exhibit for the purpose of soliciting or collecting alms; (d) "child" means a boy or a girl who has not attained the age of eighteen years;556 of 2000(e) "children home" means special homes established under juvenile justice(care and protection of children) act, 2000; and(f) "receiving centre" means a centre established under section 53  begging by any person is hereby abolished104 whoever forces or encourages any person, including a child in his care, custody or charge, for begging shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than twenty years:abolition of beggingpunishment for forcing or encouraging any person for beggingprovided that the punishment, in case of a person who forces or encourages two or more persons to indulge in begging, shall not be less than twenty-five years155 (1) any person found begging shall be arrested by the police and before making every such arrest, the officer-in-charge of the concerned police station shall satisfy himself as to the bonafide of the arrested beggararrested beggars to be sent to receiving centres20(2) any person, other than a child, arrested on the ground of begging shall be sent to a receiving centre, to be established in every district by the appropriate government, wherein such person shall be provided with facilities for his rehabilitationexplanation:— for the purpose of this section, facilities for rehabilitation includes medical care, sustenance and training in agricultural or industrial or other pursuits aiming at providing gainful employment to the beggars(3) any child arrested on the ground of begging shall be sent to a children home256 the central government shall constitute a fund to be known as the beggars'welfare fund for the welfare of the beggarsconstitution of beggars' welfare fund formulation of schemes, plans for beggars7 (1) the appropriate government shall, for the purpose of providing employment opportunities to beggars, formulate such schemes, work out such plans, including plans for provision of education, and create such suitable infrastructure in every district, as it considers appropriate30(2) the appropriate government shall set up destitute homes in every district for providing food, shelter and protection to the old, infirm, helpless and destitute persons to ensure that they do not indulge in beggingpunishment for maiming358 any person who maims himself or other persons for the purpose of soliciting orcollecting alms shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty years9 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, an offence under this act shall be cognizable and non-bailableoffence to be cognizable and non-bailable power to make rules4010 (1) the appropriate government may, by notification in the official gazette, makerules for carrying out the purposes of this act45(2) every rule made under this act by the central government shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule(3) every rule made by the state government under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the state legislature statement  of  objects  and  reasonsfor the last sixty-two years of our independence, government has failed to check and abolish begging in the country despite welfare measures taken by the central and the state governments, begging continues unabated all over the country, especially in the metroplitan cities and urban centresin cities, beggars are seen lurking and forcing even foreign visitors to pay alms such unwarranted acts do not only leave bad impression in the minds of visitors but also bring dishonour to the name of the nationdrives launched by different state governments and union territory administrations and anti-begging legislations enacted by various state legislatures so far have failed to contain this menace, which has assumed criminal proportionsto root-out the menace of begging from the country, a national perspective has to be created by developing an infrastructure to tackle begging not only by a legal framework but also socially by creating an environment of accommodation and acceptance of beggars in the society, to assure them a life with dignity therefore, it is necessary to create an atmosphere so that beggars are provided with sufficient means of livelihood by the governmenthence this billnew delhi;prasanta kumar majumdardecember 17, 2009 financial memorandumclause 5 of the bill provides for establishment of  "receiving centres" by the appropriate government clause 6 provides for establishment of the beggars' welfare fund by the central government clause 7 of the bill provides for formulation of schemes and creating suitable infrastructure in every district to enable the beggars to earn their livelihood the central government would have to incur expenditure from the consolidated fund of india for the establishment of receiving centres, destitute homes for formulation of schemes and creating suitable infrastructure in respect of union territories as far as the establishment of receiving centres, destitute homes and formulation of schemes and creating suitable infrastructure in the states is concerned, the state governments will incur expenditure from their respective consolidated funds the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is likely to involve a recurring expenditure of about rupees eight hundred crore per annuma non-recurring expenditure of about rupees forty crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 10 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purpose of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for abolition of begging and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri prasanta kumar majumdar, mp)gmgipmrnd—165ls(s-1)—22-02-2010