International Research Journal of Education and Technology

Begging is a social problem in rural and urban areas of different parts of the country. It is a biggest curse in our society in the era of 21^st century. “Beggars” or “Fakir” are poorest of the poor, most disadvantages, most backward and marginalized section of the society, living in such a pathetic condition that they are unable to full fill the basic needs of life. Currently there are more than 4 lakh of beggars in India with highest in West Bengal state (Indian express report 2011). The main objectives of this research is to know the genuine cause of taking beggars profession , to examine the socio-economic profiles, health status and quality of life among beggars, suggest suitable remedial measures to eradicate this beggars profession in the study area.  Malda district of West Bengal has been selected as the study area. The entire research work is based on both primary and secondary sources of data. The results of the study shows that 19.57 percent of the beggars are practicing this profession as a traditional family profession, 17.87 percent are suffering from lungs problems, 38.72 per cent of the respondents are does not have any Ration card facilities and majority of beggars have various bad habits such smoking bidi and cigarettes, alcohol consuming, lottery ticket batting etc. The researcher suggested that Government of West Bengal and district administration (District Magistrate) and local government authorities (Zila Parishad- Panchayat Samiti- Gram Panchayat) should provide affordable houses and provides monthly pension to the beggars for alleviating this problems in the study area.

Key Words: Extreme Poverty, Health, Income, Housing, Beggars, Poor, Open defection, Sanitation, Cloth