Begging is illegal in India and yet during your travels to this culturally rich country, scenes of abject poverty and homeless people are inescapable.
Watching a person/families and children beg for spare change is a heart-wrenching thing to witness, and it will always be a difficult and a confusing choice on how to deal with this situation.
A good way to start, is to follow the lead of the locals – i.e. ignore the beggars completely and if they get too persistent give them a stern look.
This may sound harsh, and it is, but if you assist the beggars with cash, you might just have helped fuel an illegal industry.
To put things in perspective, while poverty is very real, begging is quite often carried out in organized gangs.
To beg in a certain territory, each beggar must hand over their “earning” to a scam leader, who keeps a significant share of the day’s income.
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This is not to say that the genuinely needy do not exist. If you really want to help out, there are plenty of other legal and longstanding ways in which you can help the poor in India – which could mean voluntary work, social service, donations at various recognized trusts etc.
Additionally, you can reward good service or a job well done by say the cleaning lady at your hotel/guesthouse. These people also live on low wages, but choose to work for a living.