Following a year-long campaign to rescue beggars living on the streets, Butwal Sub-metropolis was declared a ‘street beggar-free zone’ on Saturday amid a function presided by the provincial Minister of Law and Internal Affairs Kul Prasad KC.

The sub-metropolis’s campaign is supported by the provincial government and Manav Sewa Ashram, a humanitarian organisation.

The year-long campaign rescued 197 beggars stranded on the streets. Of them, 72 have been rehabilitated in a shelter home, according to city officials.

“Food, shelter and clothes are a man’s fundamental rights,” said Mayor Shivaraj Subedi. “From hereon, nobody will have to spend the night on the streets in Butwal.”

Meanwhile, Minister KC said that the sub-metropolis will not allow anyone to beg on the streets. The sub-metropolis, provincial Ministry of Social Development, District Administration Office, District Police and Manav Sewa Ashram will jointly take the responsibility to monitor the rule.

The city officials had been monitoring the city during the night for a month before making the declaration. In the past week alone, 40 street people were rescued. All the rescued persons have been housed in the shelter at the Ashram, which exclusively works to rescue street people.

The Ashram currently provides shelter to 125 people, including four children and 25 elderly. The Ashram provides food and medicine for the needy. It also provides yoga and exercise sessions.

“After three months of rehabilitation, we send those with families to their homes in coordination with the local unit and the police,” said Saru Adhikari, co-coordinator of the Ashram. “If they don’t have a family, we house them here for the time being.”

Provincial Minister of Social Development Sudarshan Baral said that a campaign to re-establish street people will be launched across the province in the coming years, aiming to make the whole province street beggar-free.

“Declaring the city street people free is not a great thing,” said KC, the minister of law. “It’s far more important to create a situation where nobody would have to come to the street.”

Prior to this, on October, another sub-metropolis Bharatpur was declared street beggar-free zone.