Kapilvastu, April 22 -- Shubhawati Netuwa, 50, from Dhupahi in Mayadevi Rural Municipality, spends her days moving from one settlement to another, collecting food to survive. With no land of her own to cultivate, begging has remained her only option. "We cannot go hungry. What we gather from villages is what keeps us alive," she said.

Shubhawati's son Hiru, 30, works as a daily wage labourer, and his earnings help provide two meals a day for the family. But it is not enough to sustain the seven-member household without her efforts. For generations, begging has been the family's traditional occupation. The Netuwa family has relied on it to feed her children and grandchildren.

Until recently, the Shubhawati family lived under a plastic sh...