International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-4421 Volume 2, No. 12, December 2013 i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org 67 Problems of Beggars: A Case Study Dr. Jabir Hasan Khan, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh Dr. Menka, Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh Shamshad, Research Scholar, Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh ABSTRACT The present research paper is an attempt to analyse the socio-economic problems faced by beggars and governmental helps received by them as well as recommended by the authors for upliftment of the socio- economic standard of their life in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh. The study is based on primary source of data, collected through the field survey in the Aligarh district carried out during 2009. The analysis reveals that poverty, unemployment, lack of electricity, sanitation, potable water and proper housing, non availability of ration card, lack of money for marriage of their daughters, various diseases, etc. are the main problems faced by the beggars. The help received from the government by the beggars merely are voter identity cards and ration cards. This study demonstrates that this section of population is the most poor among the poorest who are still thriving for one of the traditional basic need, that is food, what may be predicted about the status of the other remaining needs (Clothing and shelter). The new additive modern needs (health, education and recreation) are the heavenly dreams to them. Keywords: Problems, Government services, Beggars, Aligarh, INTRODUCTION India, at the present time, has been facing two most vital problems i.e. the first one is to meet the swelling demand for food and other consumptive products, and the second is enervating the widespread poverty by the ever increasing population. Hence, there is continuous wide yawning gap between demand and supply of the food for the Indian population. The increasing demands made by exponential growth of population means the need for more requirements of food, energy, water, land for human settlements, better civic infrastructural facilities and amenities for standard quality of life. Unfortunately, poor people are unable to satisfy even their basic needs due to mass prevalence of unemployment, under unemployment and poverty in the country that force the socio- economically backward poor people of the lower stratum of the society to adopt the activity of begging to earn the few pieces of bread for the survival of the life. It is well known that problem of begging has not originated recently but it is also very difficult to say that when begging began to be practiced first. Many studies indicate that it was non-existent in primitive societies where small groups of relatives used to live together and support one another. Mutual aid served as self-protection and security for the clan or even the whole tribe. The phenomenon of begging has emerged in association with private property (Henderson, 1904: 5 and Ottaway, 1975: 11). In the early civilizations, alms giving was considered as a holly deed and begging an honorable act. Ancient religious feast included alms giving as a ritual. However, the spread of the practice was checked by the discomforts of the life and the existence of old support systems for the economically dependent groups such as polygamy, prostitution, slavery, clientage and vassalage (MOLSA, 1992: 4). In traditional Indian society, beggary was never a problem because the socio-economic system had built-in safeguards for its prevention. Previously, religious faith of the people has encouraged begging in India, believing that it is one way to please the Almighty but now it has become a profession since no physical and mental effort is required to earn one’s bread. Begging is one of the most endemic multifaceted social problems with great magnitude, but it is less understood in all its dimensions. The begging in India has always been an object of ephemeral attention of charity, the problem of beggary as such has not become a subject for an in-depth scientific inquiry. Though there have been a few works on this poignant problem by Kumarappa, 1945; Tirumalaiah, 2004; Azad India foundation, 2010; Sharell, 2010; Shah Nirav, 2011; Kamat, 2012 and they have concentrated on specific dimensions like philosophy of begging or, the day to day temporal problems encountered by the beggars in the process of begging. The studies emphasizing on the beggary pining in its socio-cultural and economic aspects, are rarely carried out. The magnitude of the problem is very much poignant in developing countries and particularly in India. The larger the chunk of population involved in begging, the heavier the burden on working population and lesser the usage of human resources for constructive human development. Begging has become the mainstay for a quite large section of the population. The phenomenon of begging is a result of a number of factors, such as poverty (real poor or fraudulent poor), religion, physical disability, culture, national disaster, civil