K’taka HC seeks report on use of Rs 7,093cr beggary cess; flags child begging menace

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Monday expressed serious concern over the continued prevalence of child begging in the state and sought an explanation on how Rs 7,093 crore collected as beggary cess over the past four years has been utilised.

A bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C.M. Poonacha passed the directions while hearing a petition filed by an NGO. The court observed that the available records raise significant questions about the utilisation of funds. “Obviously you are keeping Rs 3,000 crore for four years and children are begging on the streets — then something is not right,” the bench remarked.

The court directed the state government and the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) to file a detailed report on the cess expenditure and the remaining funds within eight weeks. It also sought information on steps taken to recover pending amounts from local bodies.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel Puttige R. Ramesh submitted that as per an affidavit from the Director of the Directorate of Municipal Administration, the state collected Rs 7,093.50 crore as beggary cess between 2021–22 and 2024–25. Of this, Rs 3,453 crore has been spent, while Rs 3,639 crore is yet to be transferred by local bodies, he argued, adding that despite the massive spending, child begging continues unabated.

The government counsel responded that pending amounts have not yet been remitted by local bodies. “Notices have been issued to them, and additional funds have been transferred to the Department of Women and Child Welfare,” the counsel informed the court.

The bench noted that the affidavit did not clearly explain how the Rs 3,453.86 crore spent was utilised, and pointed out that Rs 3,639.64 crore has not been deposited into the designated account or used through proper channels.

The court said it is considering directing KSLSA to work with the state government to collect and verify data related to the issue, and instructed the government to fully cooperate and share all required information.

IANS