A paper co-authored by Dr Aejaz Ahmad Wani, Post-doctoral Fellow, Moturi Satyanarayana Centre of Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Krea University and Dr Ekta Shaikh, Assistant Professor, Dyal Singh Evening College, University of Delhi has been published in Economic and Political Weekly.
In the article titled Rethinking the Governance of Begging in India: Integrating Ethics, Law, and Policy, the authors argue that India’s proposed begging governance policy must work out a sensitive, rights-compliant framework that addresses intersecting vulnerabilities of individuals engaged in begging, especially women, children and persons with disabilities. Policymakers can draw lessons from comparative anti-begging jurisprudence to implement rehabilitative, rather than coercive, strategies to deal with the problem of begging, and work on enhancing the capabilities of individuals forced to beg on the streets. They further argue that its effectiveness will depend on how it integrates ethical, legal and policy imperatives in formulating a context-sensitive and rights-compliant framework.
