Uttar Pradesh’s Social Welfare Minister Ramapati Shastri said on Thursday that though there were eight beggar homes in the state, not a single beggar was staying in them.
Replying to a question of Sushma Patel of Samajwadi Party, Shastri said that all the eight beggar homes — one each in Agra, Mathura, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, lucknow and two in Faizabad — were in dilapidated condition.
The minister also said that the government was ready to hand over these beggar homes to NGOs (non-governmental organisations) for smooth running while a proposal had already been sent to the government to run these beggar home on PPP model.
But when the MlAs asked the reason for the lamentable condition of the empty beggar homes, Shastri put the onus on the state police, saying that it was the duty of the cops to produce beggars in courts which could identify them as beggars so that they could be registered in these homes.
