Proposed bill to curb beggary reviewed

LAHORE:To discourage beggary in the society a meeting was held here Wednesday with Minister for Social Welfare & Bait-ul-Maal Syed Yawar Abbas Bukhari in the chair to review the proposed Punjab Prevention of Beggary Act 2021.

The proposed law will empower the government functionaries to arrest a person found begging and present him/her before a court of law. The beggars will be detained in special welfare houses, said a handout issued by social welfare department. For the first time beggars and their patrons will be punished, the minister said. In the past, professional beggars were dealt only by police department but now social welfare department will be involved in rooting out beggary, he concluded.