NGO turns beggars into entrepreneurs

 

 

 

NULLIFYING the phrase ‘beggars can’t be choosers’, a non-profit organisation has launched a project to help them earn a living by making items such as laptop and conference bags. Common Man Trust, a not-for-profit in Varanasi, conceptualised the initiative ‘Beggars Corporation’ in February and launched it in July. Laying stress on investment, and not on donation, this corporation envisages to make Varanasi --- represented in the Lok Sabha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi --- become a beggar-free city by 2023. The group has trained 12 families of beggars in Varanasi for different vocations and they have now shunned beggary. “If the pilot model succeeds, it can be replicated elsewhere in the country,” Chandra Mishra, who heads the Common Man Trust, told PTI. After the initial success, the Trust intends to turn Beggars Corporation into a profit making venture.

 

“Earlier, we were experimenting as to whether the beggars would work and whether their products can be marketed. Their products have been accepted. Now, we are trying to turn it into a profit-making company,” he said. According to Mishra, the Beggars’ Corporation will be registered as a ‘for profit’ company by March 2022 post it intends to raise Rs 2.5 crore from angel investors and venture capitalists. “We will then pick 100 beggar families in the first phase in Varanasi,” Chandra said. The Trust also runs a ‘School of Life’ at Rajendra Prasad Ghat in Varanasi, where 32 children from beggar families are studying.