India, April 15 -- In a major step towards making Bhubaneswar a beggar-free city, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to implement the central government's SMILE scheme - Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise - this year.

The scheme, launched by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, aims at the comprehensive rehabilitation of people engaged in begging. Officials said it will help bring beggars back into the mainstream by providing them shelter, care and skill-based training to help them earn a livelihood.

While SMILE was first rolled out in 50 cities in 2022, Bhubaneswar has now been included in the second phase along with Puri, Cuttack and Jajpur.

To take the scheme forward, the B...