'World's richest beggar': Mumbai man earns Rs 7.5 crore by begging, has 2 flats and 3 shops

The beggar also owns two shops in Thane and earns a rental of Rs 30,000 from it. (Representational image)

A man in Mumbai has been touted as the richest beggar in the world after it came to light that he amassed a wealth of Rs 7.5 crore and two flats worth Rs 1.5 crore only by begging. Bharat Jain also owns a stationery store that supplements his income and although his family does not approve of him begging, Jain is determined to continue.

"I enjoy begging, and I don’t want to give it up," he told the Economic Times, adding that he also likes to donate money at temples. “I’m not greedy. I’m generous”

Jain begs for 12 hours without a break and earns about Rs 2,500 daily. He has been doing so for 40 years and begging is his primary source of income; he makes about Rs 75,000 a month from it.

Apart from the two flats, Jain also owns two shops in Thane from which he earns a monthly rental of Rs 30,000, the publication reported.

Jain lives with his wife, two kids, father and brother. His children used to study in a popular convent school. They have completed their education and now help the family run the stationery store.

Meanwhile, a man in Kolkata has taken on a 24-hour begging challenge to gauge people's reactions and see how much money he could make in a single day. Instagram user Pantha Deb shared a video of undertaking the challenge after being dressed in a torn t-shirt and jeans with a begging bowl in hand.

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By the end of the day, Deb had managed to collect only Rs 34 which he donated to a homeless woman on the streets.

In related news, earlier this year, a woman in Rajasthan made Rs 2.5 lakh in 45 days by forcing her five kids to beg. Indra Bai who owns a plot of land, a two-storey house in Rajasthan's Kota, a motorcycle, and a phone worth Rs 20,000 is a repeat offender and was booked in February for forcing her children to beg, the Times of India reported.

Her children are aged 10, 8, 7, 3, and 2. “Rather than starving, we chose to beg. It is better than stealing,” Indra Bai told volunteers of an Indore-based NGO, Sanstha Pravesh, when she and her seven-year-old daughter were being taken off the streets.

The woman would place the older kids strategically at the busy Luv Kush Square in Indore to beg. The crossing leads to the popular Mahakal temple in Ujjain. She reportedly told the police that she chose the location as it was a transit point for Ujjain.

Pilgrims on their way to offer prayers were unlikely to shoo away women and children seeking alms.