My friend has spurred this post. So I guess this is for her.
A difficult enough thing as it is to deal with all aspects of a issue I’m going to attempt to do it.
Its more like to give or not to give… are we encouraging begging by sparing our money?

I think its dumb to part with your money because a kid on the street looks at you pleadingly… I mean for god’s sake get a grip. The money you are parting with isn’t even going to reach her in the end. Ever so rarely does the kid get to keep what she/he has begged (I was nearly gonna say earned ..sheesh its already getting difficult).
According to her its dumb because the kid is begging because she has no other choice and there is no point in saying she/he should find work in our country…
I say what use is it to part with your money which in the end is going to help some guy beat up that kid and help him buy himself a drink…
You can argue saying that there could a chance that it might actually help the kid but here you have to be reasonable and realistic. Even if the money helps the kid it’s a rare and infinitely acute possibility. Even if you are the type who thinks positive the gravity of the situation cant escape you…

To sum up according to my friend, they beg because they HAVE to. Because to feed their family they need money. And because they really cant find any viable work in our country.
To sum up according to me, they beg for their families fine. They gulp their dignities to do it fine. But ultimately the family is rarely the benefactor and that is so not fine. For,
one I think we have better work to do than earn money to donate to them. Second even if they cant find employment where you usually find them unless they are handicapped they can definitely find gainful employment where manual labour is concerned in construction sites, or in the vast oceans founds to surround India where fishing is very much possible to quote a few .
Third even if you are the positive thinker who feels it might by grace help a family, shouldn’t you consider the aspect of why there is a family in the first place.
Fourth begging is prohibited.
Fifth I might agree with you if the person is handicapped.
Sixth people do pay if you do their laundry or rake their gardens or
sweep their homes and these I consider certainly better occupations than begging.

May be I am far too critically inclined but I guess it cant be helped for I cant stand it when people say someone is helpless. You aren’t helpless unless you think yourself to be and with that nobody can disagree.