One in every four beggars in India is a Muslim: Report

Christians, who are 2.3% of the population, make up 0.88% of the beggar population (3,303 individuals) Interestingly, more Muslim women seem to be begging as compared to Muslim men

In a sad reflection of the unequal economical growth, a government of India report has listed nearly 25% of the 3.7 lakh beggars counted in the 2011 Census are Muslims, according to the Indian Express.

Muslims make up 14.23% of India’s population and going by the Census 2011, there are a total of 92,760 Muslim beggars. In other words, one in every four beggars in India is a Muslim, the report said.

While most of the beggars in India are Hindus—about 72.2%, they also constitute the majority religion with 79.8% of Indians being Hindus.

The report said, Christians, who are 2.3% of the population, make up 0.88% of the beggar population (3,303 individuals), Buddhists (0.52%), Sikhs (0.45%), Jains (0.06%) and others (0.30%).

Interestingly, more Muslim women seem to be begging as compared to Muslim men, which is opposed to the national trend.

“Destitution is the outcome of the failure of government programmes to provide a safety net to its citizens. This number is evidence of how certain groups in society have lesser access to services and government programmes and are pushed to being destitutes,” Mohammed Tarique, coordinator of Koshish, a Tata Institute of Social Sciences Field Action Project on Homelessness and Destitution told IE.