Socio-Economic Status of Beggars in Urban Areas: A Case Study

Beggar population in the developing countries of the world is the victim of an unbalanced socio-economic system. They are amongst the most vulnerable group in our society and show the lowest socio-economic condition of that group. The begging activity is the human degradation to the lowest extent, and a menace to the healthy society. Most of beggars are the result of economic deprivation, breakdown of the socio-economic structure, destitution and neglect, etc. Therefore, the present research paper aims to examine the spatial patterns of urban beggars’ demographic characteristics, literacy, employment, income, household infrastructural facilities, and their socio-economic status in urban areas of Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh. This work is based on primary source of data, collected through the field survey in the Aligarh district carried out during 2009. All the 13 towns of the district were selected for the survey, in which, the 6 per cent wards from each town were selected. Further, on the basis of 25 per cent sampling of the beggars’ household, the 396 beggars’ households were randomly surveyed from these towns. The regional analysis reveals that the urban beggars living in the central and western blocks of the district experienced the low level of socio-economic status, while, the beggars of south-eastern blocks witnessed high level of socio-economic status in the study area. Key Words