Minister for Social Welfare Syed Haroon Sultan Bukhari on Sunday said the government had started a project to provide accommodation and skills training for street beggars.
He said that the project had been initiated to purge the society of beggary and to create an opportunity for those who wanted to earn for themselves instead of seeking alms on roads and traffic junctions.
Syed Haroon Sultan Bukhari said that construction had started on the first beggars’ home in the provincial metropolis.
He said that Rs64.41 million had been budgeted for the construction of the home. Syed Haroon Sultan Bukhari said that this was part of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s vision for social welfare projects and affirmative action targeting neglected and marginalised segments of the society.
He said that such homes would also be built in other cities under a phased programme. Beggary will soon be eliminated in the province, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2014.