Police, authorities are cracking down, Adviser to Chief Minister Waqar Mehdi. Photo: File
Karachi: Back-breaking inflation, low literacy rate and unemployment are causing an increase in the economically backward sections of the society, in which many people have taken to the streets to beg for water in desperation from all sides.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Imranul Haq, a volunteer of a welfare organization, said that due to high inflation, reduced purchasing power, there has been a marked increase in the number of donkeys near the Lyari Expressway and in various areas of the port city.
Sitting outside a dairy shop, Farheen said, “My husband doesn’t have a job, so I have to ask for help and feed my daughters.”
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“We spend eight months begging in Karachi, after which we return to our families in our villages and live off the money we collect for the remaining four months,” said Madhu, 55.
Asif Shaukat, a religious welfare worker, says that begging has almost become a family activity. Beggar groups and children can be seen begging near markets, parks, hotels and wedding halls.
In this regard, Waqar Mehdi, advisor to the Chief Minister of Sindh, says that the police and local authorities are regularly cracking down on donkey gangs. However, there has been an increase due to the bad economic situation.
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