National Initiative To Rehabilitate Beggars At Religious, Historical And Tourist Sites:
The central government has identified 30 cities of religious, historical, and tourism significance across India for survey and rehabilitation of adults and children engaged in begging.
- The goal is to make these spaces free of beggary by 2026. More cities may be added over the next two years.
- This outreach in 30 cities is being implemented under the “Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprises” (SMILE) scheme by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
- A national portal and mobile app will be launched to ensure uniform guidelines are followed for survey and rehabilitation. It will enable real-time tracking of progress in providing shelters, skills, education etc to those who beg.
- SMILE scheme launched in February 2022 with allocation of Rs. 365 crores from 2021-22 to 2025-26
- Beneficiaries: Transgender community and people engaged in begging
- The scheme aims to provide comprehensive welfare and rehabilitation measures to the transgender community and people engaged in begging through various interventions like education, skilling, health, protection and mainstreaming.
