The state government has collected approximately Rs 7,093 crore in beggar cess from local bodies over the last four years, yet child begging persists on the roads. This indicates that not everything is in order, the Karnataka High Court has observed, voicing strong displeasure against the government.

During the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Letz Kit Foundation seeking directions to the government to identify children involved in begging and integrate them into the mainstream of society, a division bench led by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru expressed this view. Additionally, the bench directed the government to provide information on the steps taken to recover the beggar cess collected by local bodies during the next hearing and adjourned the proceedings.

Senior advocate Puttige R. Ramesh, representing the petitioner, informed the court that according to the government's data, from 2021-22 to 2024-25 (partial), the government has collected a total of Rs 7,093 crore in cess. Of this, Rs 3,453 crore has been spent, while local bodies still owe Rs 3,639 crore. Even after spending thousands of crores, child begging has not stopped, he pointed out. Government counsel appeared and detailed the measures taken by the state to eradicate begging. They also admitted that local bodies are not remitting the collected cess funds to the government. https://dv7jujfts4bjf.cloudfront.net/Untitled design - 2025-10-24T080142.136.png_2025-10-24T02:32:24.619Z

Petition Hearing
Regarding this, they explained that reminder letters are being sent to local bodies. After hearing arguments from both sides, the bench directed the government to furnish detailed figures on the amount of cess collected so far, the expenditure incurred, and the outstanding balance. The Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) was also instructed to compile all data related to cess collection. The authority must be provided with full cooperation to gather this information, and the petition hearing was postponed for eight weeks.