The first care home for beggars in Madras was established under police management

In November 1953, the Madras School of Social Work, which was started only the previous year, conducted a survey of beggars in the State capital. As many as 400 volunteers were drawn from colleges, schools, and social service institutions in Madras to conduct the survey. The study revealed that there were nearly 7,500 beggars, of whom nearly 2,000 were juveniles. A large majority of them were able-bodied. These beggars were found in large numbers near railway stations, bus stops, hotels, markets, parks, temples, schools, hospitals, pavements, and choultries.

Citing this report, Inspector-General of Police J. Devasagayam had observed, “Any person interested in criminology will deplore the fact that there are nearly 2,000 children in the streets subjected to the degradation of begging. There is not the slightest doubt that large numbers of these young persons will become delinquents in the criminal sense.”

Committed to rescue home

Back then, some of these children were dealt with by the police under the Children’s Act and committed to the rescue home maintained by the Government of Madras and to an orphanage at Royapuram maintained by the Corporation of Madras. A few others were rescued by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and looked after in the Boy’s Town.

The adult beggars were dealt with under a 1901 provision of the City Police Act, which contemplated the provision of a work house for able-bodied beggars and a special home for diseased and infirm beggars. A Madras Corporation institution at Krishnampet was notified by the government as a special home, with a capacity to accommodate around 400 persons. The work house at Royapuram had a capacity of 200 persons.

In February 1954, C. Rajagopalachari, Chief Minister of Madras (as Tamil Nadu was called then), inaugurated the ‘Daya Sadan’, a special home for beggars, at a Goshala on Konnur High Road, Madras City, a private institution, managed by a committee recognised by the government. On March 14, 1954, Rajagopalachari inaugurated a care home and camp at Melpakkam.

The care home and camp was “a unique institution in that this is the first time that a Government Work House and Special Home has been set up under Police management,” the Inspector-General of Madras said on the occasion. This camp had started functioning from the beginning of March that year, with 83 beggars.

“A staff of 1 Deputy Superintendent of Police, 1 Sub-Inspector, 2 Head Constables and 12 Constables has been sanctioned, apart from the other usual menial staff… The strength of the beggars today is 229 men, 84 women and 20 children. The inmates are eligible for one set of 2 shirts and 2 dothies for each male, one set of 2 sarees and 2 blouses for each female and one mat, one pillow, one blanket, one aluminium plate and one tumbler for each. The inmates are given 2 square meals and kanji costing not more than 14 annas per head per day,” according to the speech of Devasagayam, published in the April 1954 edition of The Madras Police Journal. The inmates of the camp were given medical care too, with the Medical Officer of the Government Dispensary at Poonamalee visiting them daily.

‘Rehabilitation is the purpose’

“The purpose behind this Camp is not merely punitive. The purpose is rather to rehabilitate these beggars so that when the period of their committal here expires, they will be able to go out into the world and earn their own livelihood,” said the Inspector-General of Police. For this purpose, handicrafts, such as weaving, rope-making, mat-making, rattan work etc., were proposed to be taught to the inmates. “Four of the inmates are weavers from Salem & Ramnad and a start has been made with them for teaching weaving. Vegetable gardens will also be started and it is proposed that a percentage of the income from the sale of produce will be distributed as bonus to the inmates at the time of their discharge from this institution to serve as an encouragement to them. A school has been started for the children and I am happy to state that the teacher is one amongst the inmates of the home,” he said.

The camp had a capacity for accommodating 500 persons and there were plans to expand it. More than 71 years later, the problem of beggary remains unaddressed in Chennai, as Madras City is now known.