7/29/2019 Release: Government Fails to Comply to High Courts directions to set right Beggary Relief System

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Sep. 26, 2013

Government of Karnataka Fails to Comply to Hble High

Courts directions to set right Beggary Relief System

It may be recalled that Rashtrotthan Sankalp Trust (RASTR) had filed a PIL (writ petition

WP9965/2011) in the Karnataka High Court (HC) in 2011 praying for directions to the

Government of Karnataka to implement the Karnataka Prohibition of Beggary Act,

1975effectively and activate the defunct Central Relief Committee(CRC) and its arms.

We had also petitioned before the Honourable Court to strike down the transfer of 123.3

acres of land belonging to the Nirashritara Parihara Kendra(NPK), Bengalooru valued more

than Rs. 2500 crores free of cost to BDA to undertake commercial development like 5 star

hotel and luxury apartments.

The Honourable Court had upheld our petition and the government had to nullify the land

transfer. The government also committed in the said petition in April 2013 to implement 11

important points to make the Beggary Relief / Rehabilitation System in the state effective.

Even after 6 months have elapsed since the Honourable High Court of Karnataka

passed its orders in our PIL and directed the Government to act and give closure to

all its undertakings within 3 months, the government has not moved an inch. The most

important actions necessary from the Government as per its undertaking to the Honourable

High Court are as follows:

1. Appointment of Non-Official Members to CRC: The Government has taken no

measures to appoint four non-official members to the CRC as per the Guidelines laid

down for Appointment of Non-official Members to the CRC (Annexure-1 of the

undertaking given to the Honourable HC in the said case on 02-Apr-2013). The

government, which was supposed to appoint a Search & Screening Committeeheaded

by a retired Judge of the Karnataka HC to shortlist and suggest names for appointment

of Non-Official Members to the CRC, the apex body to supervise beggary relief &

rehabilitation in the state, has not been constituted till date.

2. Beggars' Census Report: The Government has not published the Census report of

beggars/destitute in the state as per which over 25,000 beggars were identified with

digital photographs in Karnataka in 2011.

3. Board of Visitors: The Government has not appointed the Board of Visitors to all the

NPKs in the state as per the Rules.

7/29/2019 Release: Government Fails to Comply to High Courts directions to set right Beggary Relief System

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4. Beggary Cess: There is no serious effort by the Government to estimate the cess

levied, collected and transferred from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) or Panchayats to the

CRC. No Action has been initiated against any Local Authority u/s 31(5) of the Karnataka

Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975and to recover the beggary cess, which runs into

hundreds of crores of rupees. This is nothing but cheating the citizens who are

paying the cess as part of their property tax.

5. State-wide Single Helpline: A state-wide single helpline to report instances of beggingor destitute in distress is still not functional as committed to the HC in the said PIL.

Several reminders to the Social Welfare Department, the nodal agency for this activity,

have fallen on deaf ears. The vision of a Beggary-Free Karnataka as laid down by the

Karnataka Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975, nearly 40 years ago will remain a pipe-dream

with this attitude and approach of the government.This release is for the information

of the citizens and action to hold the government accountable for the tax paid by them

from their hard earned money.

Jai Hind!

Santosh P. Nargund

Adhyaksh