CHANDIGARH: Asking for loose change from passers-by no longer appeals to India’s digital link which is all set to change even the face of beggars. Decades ago passengers travelling by roadways buses were offered toffees for change by conductors. Now online payments are not limited to privileged class many street dwellers in modern cities of India are now using QR code. But in the recent past an incident happened to a resident of Sector 48 that surprised everyone.
He told that he went to industrial area for an urgent work but on the day there was traffic jam on road to Allante Mall so he diverted his vehicle to railway station road. On the traffic point a beggar by the side of the road strolled on the pavement toting a metal pail for cash spreading his hand for alms. He said the beggar that he has no change. But the beggar told him no problem as he had a solution. He moved a QR code before the man and begged to put the amount in his account. For a moment he could not make out whether in the coming days digitally-savvy beggars will be soliciting alms via QR code. Beggar solution made the man speechless and he dragged a ten rupee note from his pocket and gave it to the beggar.
It seems that online beggars entered the city beautiful and payments are not limited only to privileged class only even it makes in roads in the begging business. Likewise, the age-old tradition of exchanging cash enclosed in red packets during festive period has also gone digital with the public definitely doing away with the hassle of handling physical cash. But it will also make the work of beggars easy in the coming days and people will not escape on pretext of ‘no change.'
India has taken a liking to cashless transactions in the past couple of years and there is every possibility that the beggars in India will solicit alms using QR codes and e-wallets and will become a common sight in era of tech boom in the country. These beggars do stand a better chance of getting alms through QR code rather than asking for change.