NHRC, India organises an Open House Discussion on ‘Rethinking Beggary: Bridging Gaps between Policy, Practice and Dignity’

• NHRC India, a statutory body under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, convened an Open House Discussion on beggary, framing it as a human-rights and rehabilitation issue, not a criminal one.
• Beggary policy in India sits at the intersection of Article 21 (right to dignified life), criminal-law legacy (Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959) and welfare schemes (SMILE) — a classic GS-II governance + rights question.