By IANS
Jaipur : To stop begging at tourist attractions around the Pink City, Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) is proposing a beggary eradication law.
During a meeting chaired by JMC CEO Manohar Kant, it was decided that the civic body would take help of the tourism department in preparing a draft of the law.
“It was also decided that beggars would be removed soon from 20 of the important monuments including Amber Fort and Jantar Mantar,” a JMC official told IANS.
The municipality will form mobile teams to get rid of beggars. Steps would also be taken to send child beggars to children’s homes.
“The JMC would also try to get some assistance for disabled beggars from NGOs,” the official added.
There are few in this tourist capital of Rajasthan who have not been accosted by beggars. Jaipur, frequented by domestic and foreign tourists alike, has thousands of beggars.
They also pose a traffic hazard as they come asking for alms at busy intersections, officials said.
Meanwhile, with touts and middlemen becoming a major problem for tourists visiting the state, Rajasthan’s tourism department has come out with public interest and social awareness advertisements for the first time in both English and Hindi.
Rajasthan’s Minister of State for Tourism Usha Punia said: “Responsible tourism is important to make a destination genuinely tourist-friendly.”
“Social awareness advertisements that the department has decided to release are a step towards making the people go out of the way to help tourists and protect monuments.”