Beggary has always been considered as a social evil and a curse for society. Street beggars are common sight in all our towns and cities, outside the mosques and religious gatherings. Major obvious reasons for this evil are illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, biological defects and habit. Due to the pervasiveness of this social problem, many evil practices have come into existence which are destroying not only our social norms but also affecting the law and order situation of the country. So keeping in mind the hazards of beggary, Social Work Department arranged a seminar on "Anti-Beggary" in collaboration with  Directorate of Social Welfare and Bait ul Mal Punjab and Tanzeem Al Fajar Pakistan on 29th of January, 2020 at IT Hall, Lahore College for Women University. The details of seminar are given below: 

Dr Ayesha Saeed (Directorate General Social Welfare Department of Punjab), Mr.Akmal Ovaisi (Member PNCC Government of Punjab), Mr.Sibtain Raza Lodhi (National Coordinator of Civil Society Pakistan), Mrs.Rubina Shehzadi ( Incharge of Beggar Home), Professor Ijaz Yousafi (Islamic Scholar), Mrs.Sidra Zakir Butt (Social Welfare Officer) and Mrs.Iram Shahid (Chairperson Department of Social Work, LCWU) were present as speakers. The event was attended by a large number of students along with the faculty members. 

While addressing to the audience as Chief Guest, Directorate General of Social Welfare Punjab, Dr.Ayesha Saeed said that professional beggars are the root cause of social evils and there is need to bring positive and result oriented changes to establish a beggary free society. She also highlighted the effective steps and measures have so far been taken by the Government of Punjab against the professional beggars. Member PNCC Government of Punjab, Mr.Akmal Ovaisi said that it's a need of the time to minimize worst social evil of beggary from Pakistan so that we can get rid of this menace of begging by creating awareness among the students and educational institutions. National Coordinator of Civil Society Pakistan, Mr.Sibtain Raza Lodhi said that we must extend full cooperation with the Government to eradicate professional beggary and he explained the effects of beggary on society. Incharge of Beggar Home, Mrs.Rubina Shehzadi gave introduction of beggar home and explained its purpose and working. Professor Ijaz Yousafi (Islamic Scholar) explained the Islamic concept of Beggary in the light of Quran and Sunnah. Social welfare Officer, Mrs.Sidra Zakir described the role of Social Welfare Department in Anti beggary campaign. After that Mrs.Iram Shahid (Chairperson of Social Work Department, LCWU) concluded the event with note of thanks to all the guest speakers and students for their response and active participation. The event was ended with the distribution of honorary shields and certificates among guest speakers and organizers. 

Survey regarding eradication of beggary:

A survey was conducted to obtain responses, views and suggestions of participants for the eradication of this social problem. According to which:

• 72% respondents strongly agreed that beggary is a social evil.
• 64%  agreed that beggars are the ugly face of society.
• 62% said that they give alms to beggars at times.
• 91% said that this seminar is informative.
• 83%  said that very few beggars deserve aid after attending this seminar.
• 76% agreed that poverty is a main reason for begging.
• 63% agreed that beggars earn more than a laborer.
• 78% agreed that begging is a Mafia control profession.
• 73% agreed that beggary is sponsored by certain agencies.
• 71% suggested that state should rehabilitate the beggars in order to eliminate the menace of beggary.
• 67% suggested that government should generate funds to deal with the vagrancy, adulation and exploitation caused by begging.
• 76% suggested that beggary should be prohibited by strict laws.

Suggestion:

Following measures need to be taken to eliminate the curse of beggary from our society such as:

• There should be awareness raising programs against Beggar Mafia through electronic and social media which have great influence on our lives.
• Stringent policy formulation and its implementation by the responsible institutions needs to be ensured.
• Government should introduce some schemes and training for beggars through which they can earn their future living.
• Professional beggars must be arrested and set to some work.
• Disabled and weak beggars must be kept in charitable institutions. They must be given some light work like knitting, washing, cooking etc.
• Child beggars should be sent to school and Government should look after them.
• As a citizen we should discourage beggars by not giving alms to them.