New scheme to support the marginalised

Focus is on rehabilitation, medical facilities, counselling, education, skill development

ANDHRA PRADESH, VIJAYAWADA, 13-04-2020: Staff of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation and St. Anns Hospital testing the homeless persons and beggars at a medical camp organised in a shelter home arranged at Autonagar in Vijayawada on April 13, 2020. Photo: K.V.S. Giri / The Hindu

A scheme for rehabilitation of persons engaged in begging and for providing support to transgender persons was expected to be launched soon, according to a statement by the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry on Thursday.

The Ministry said it had formulated an umbrella scheme, SMILE (Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise), that included two sub-schemes for the welfare of transgender persons and persons engaged in begging. The scheme will cover rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, education, skill development and economic linkages.

As a part of the national anti-drug campaign, the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan that was launched in 2020, the Ministry said it had planned to declare 100 districts as “drug sensitised districts” soon.