A large number of beggars, including women and children, in different areas of the city have made the life of Peshawarites miserable.

Begging has become a profession and most people instead of trying to get a job or serve as labour to earn a livelihood have started adopting this easy and productive profession.

Hundreds of beggars including women and children, some with disabilities, some with fake dressings on limbs, some pretending to have various diseases and some saying that they were robbed, have swarmed the traffic signals; others beg at bus stops, public places and outside mosques.

Teenage girls use various tactics for begging, including wooing and their target is mostly young men. They even grab the hands of passersby and insist that they be given some money. The younger ones have started cleaning windscreens of vehicles to get charity from drivers. 

Citizens have expressed grave concern over the surge of beggars in the city who have made their lives miserable. These beggars cling to well dressed people and follow them till they are paid.

Even though the provincial government has established “Daar-ul-Kifaala” for those born with disabilities or those who have become disabled due to some mishap but most of the disabled prefer begging and cashing on their disabilities rather than earning the respectable way. Some say, these beggars earn Rs500 to Rs1000 almost every day.

The district administration seems helpless and has failed to curb the increase in beggars. Sources claimed that the beggars pay some police officials so that they can carry on with their business, uninterrupted, in public places throughout the city.