Begging the question – to give or not to give?

Begging in India has not always been the resort of the most unfortunate layer of society. Historically, ‘sanyasis’ were only permitted to eat what they got by begging door to door – it was considered a good deed to give a Brahmin or a sanyasi some food when asked. This was meant to break the “ego” of the sanyasi on his way to spiritual realization, as begging for food was thought to humble the soul.

The sight of people reduced to begging due to no such conscious choice of taking ‘sanyas’ can be very distressing – torn limbs, little children in tears, mothers with prescriptions for their babies. Many people I know in Delhi have become immune to these sights – so common and everyday have they become.  Yet the sight of beggars often moves people to a terrible place – a mixture of guilt and pity.  Both of these feelings are to some extent, misplaced.

There are accounts of people running begging rackets by terrorising little children, in some cases going to the ultimate extent of cruelty by cutting off childrens’ limbs to enable better collections for the group. Women with fake prescriptions waiting to accost you through this apparent “proof” of need, little girls carrying rented babies – there is no end to the things that happen on traffic signals while people shake their heads mechanically in refusal behind the safety of their car windows.

Pragmatists argue that giving to beggars only encourages this industry and its often cruel practices. But the question has always plagued me – even if the little girl putting herself through hoops is trying to scam me, or if most of her earning is taken away by the lead beggar, will she really be worse off if I spare some change which I will never miss? Even if she gets two rupees of the ten I give her, will it help her? Or will I be helping this industry perpetuate itself?

I think that if people are not able to do any meaningful work, for example, if they have lost the use of their arms, it should be okay to part with some money for them. Where able bodied adults are concerned, giving away money displays contempt for other persons working long hours at unskilled jobs for wages. The question on giving to children becomes complicated – while on one hand they could be too young to work, on the other hand encouraging them to beg at such an early stage of life cannot be in their interest. Also, while helping such children individually say, by sponsoring their education at a local school, etc., would be the ideal solution, all of us do not have the resources or time to do so.

What is clear to me is that this differentiation between categories of beggars is not instinctive- I remember as a nine year old child giving away my first hundred rupee note to a lady with a kid knocking at a car window and subsequently being scolded for this.

Many of us unconsciously think through a position on this matter, and the range of reactions to beggars is evidence of the range of opinions. While some people keep old clothes and food (like biscuits) in their car to give out, others give only certain categories of beggars such as old or crippled people, and of course, some do not give at all.

What do you do when you come across this situation? Does rational and economically logical thought (which of course, could be the correct course of action) prevail over that instinctive urge to help a fellow human?