CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation on Thursday restarted its drive to rehabilitate beggars and the homeless from the city roads. Kick-starting the drive near Egmore, Mayor M Subramanian said, “The new drive is aimed at sick and poorly-dressed beggars, who have become a menace at several traffic junctions and need immediate rehabilitation.”“In the earlier drive, the civic body had rescued about 1,130 people found begging in the city. All of them were rehabilitated,” he added.Of the rescued 1,130 people, 456 were given medical care and reunited with their families. Besides, 270 rescued people were admitted to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and are still receiving medical care there. About, 19 people found to be suffering of chronic illnesses were admitted to hospitals for their treatment.“With the help of NGOs, about 365 people were sent to different care organisations and 20 are still admitted at the Corporation-run Communicable Diseases Hospital (CDH) for treatment,” Subramanian said.At the CDH, Corporation doctors examine a person’s health first since most of the rescued people are in a state of severe malnutrition and classify them on the basis of the health and age. Based on the doctors’ recommendation, they would be handed over to either shelters or homes managed by NGOs for proper rehabilitation.Subramanian appealed to the general public to call the civic body’ on 1913 or 25912686 if they see beggars in their areas.The rehabilitation drive, which resumed on Thursday, is expected to continue for a few more days.On the first day, the Chennai Corporation rescued 12 beggars from near Egmore and Chennai Central.
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