Sambalpur: The Sambalpur administration has launched a drive to rehabilitate beggars Thursday.
Under the initiative 37 beggars have already been rescued from different parts of the city, District Disability Rehabilitation Officer Rabindra Satpathy said.
A temporary rehabilitation centre with a capacity to accommodate 100 people has also been set up for the purpose.
“We are providing them free food there, besides conducting the necessary health check-up,” Satpathy said.
“If family members want to take them home, they will have to sign an undertaking that the rescued persons would not resort to begging in future,” he said.
The Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) Department is providing funds for the initiative.
A survey conducted prior to the Covid-19 pandemic showed there were 370 beggars in the district, Satpathy said, adding, a fresh headcount exercise is being planned.
He said work on the Integrated Infrastructure Complex, which will rehabilitate elderly people, transgenders, persons with disabilities (PwD) and drug addicts, was complete and the project is awaiting inauguration.
“We will rehabilitate all the beggars at the complex once it becomes operational,” he said.
PNN