Also called the Bhikshuk Gruh, it is house to destitutes picked up from all areas, but mainly parks, the railway station and bus stops. The centre here has inmates from practically all states of the country with the youngest being 18 years and the oldest about 72. Beggars below the age of 18 are sent either to the boys observation home or the Naari Sanrakshan Gruh.

``All coming here are not beggars in the true sense of the word as we have inmates ranging from mentally imbalanced persons to hard boiled entrepreneurs,'' says I S Vasava, officer-in-charge of the RCB.

Recalling one such incident, the centre employees said that the guarding staff who round up beggars regularly, brought a full-grown elephant along with five sadhus to the centre. While the centre had a difficult time feeding the animal, it was also the centre of undivided attention of those residing nearby.

In a way, the centre also doubles as a psychiatric treatment centre as a case received just three months ago illustrates. The guarding staff -- there are 10 people on the who pick up persons on a fortnightly basis -- got in one Raj Narayan Pandey, a graduate aged about 45. He just kept asking everyone he met for some alms saying ``one rupee please''. ``He was a graduate who had worked in the J J Market for many years but subsequently lost his mental balance and kept asking for alms on the street,'' said Vasava.

In fact, more than 65 per cent of the inmates landing up at the receiving centre suffer from psychological disorders of one form or another, feels the officer-in-charge, adding that this has forced the centre to appoint a part-time psychiatrist as well. However, the very first problem that the centre has been facing is the definition of the term `beggar' itself. The Bombay Beggars Act 1959 classifies snake charmers, street artists (like the ones who perform acrobatics for survival), and sadhus with elephants as beggars and they thus have to be rounded up although they do not exactly fit into the common perception of a beggar.

Other common problems that are faced by the centre include unruly behaviour from relatives, who want to take back those rounded up, a perennial funds crunch and inadequate infrastructure. In many cases, the inmates themselves do not wish to stay as they become habitual beggars and escape at the first opportunity.

The centre presently houses 112 inmates, of whom 72 are male and the remaining female. Besides being provided food, shelter and clothing, they are being given training in carpentry and sewing, and make furniture for most government departments, clothes for jail inmates, and the like. All get a Rs 30 monthly stipend, a miserly amount. ``But that is the government rate,'' says Vasava.

Set up in 1963 under the Social Welfare department of the state government, it now works jointly under the social welfare department and the Surat Municipal Corporation. Both contribute equally in rehabilitating the person into some profession.