Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) asked Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary of Home department to inquire into disturbing incidents of mentally-ill people and women begging at traffic signals or loitering on streets of Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri.
The commission’s directive came while hearing a plea filed by rights activist NA Saha.
“Mentally-challenged people, young girls and women with babies begging, vending some stuff at traffic signals or loitering on the streets have become a common sight in Puri, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. It can be easily observed from their language that most of them do not belong to Odisha. The influx of unknown persons may be a reason for the rise in crime in twin cities as well as in Puri,” the rights body observed.
The rights body asked the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary to inquire if the mentally-ill persons have been rescued and treated.
Besides, the CS and the PS should check whether they are identified and provision made for their rehabilitation. In case they hail from outside Odisha, what measures have been taken to identify and send them back to their native places, it said.
About persons wandering on roads and begging, the panel asked the state government to probe into their nativities, identities and sources of livelihood. The commission further sought to know whether they have been residing under healthy conditions with assistance from the state government or they have illegally entered the state either for livelihood or for any wrongful intention.
This apart, whether they were suffering from any communicable disease and therefore abandoned by their family from neighbouring states, the commission asked. Moreover, the CS and the PS should also check if their family members are engaged in any criminal activity.