Born and raised poor, with no education and no roof over his head, Bharat Jain now boasts of a whooping Rs 7.5 crore net worth. So, how did the 54-year-old amass such an exorbitantly high income when he grew up surrounded by nothing of value? By begging.
Jain is a self-proclaimed crorepati. His journey of begging started at a young age, when he realised his family was feeling the pinch of financial constraints. His habit followed him into his adulthood, making it his primary source of income.
He places himself in just the right locations in the bustling city of Mumbai, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Azad Maidan, where footfall is high. According to reports, he would work a minimum of 10-12 hours per day, with no breaks, which resulted in his daily earnings ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500. This routine has earned Jain a monthly income of Rs 60,000 to Rs 75,000.
In his 40 years of begging, Jain has amassed a fortune of Rs 7.5 crore. He now provides his family with a luxury lifestyle he never had. He owns a 2BHK flat in Mumbai, worth Rs 1.4 crore, where he resides with his wife, two sons, father, and brother. Jain also owns two shops in Thane that provide him with a rental income of Rs 30,000.
Additionally, the family owns a stationary shop, adding to their flow of income. Jain’s two children, who both completed their education at a well-known convent school, now support the family business. Though Jain has everything a beggar could dream of, and has now created other opportunities for himself to gain monetary support, still resorts to begging as a profession, much to his family’s disapproval.
In an interview with The Economic Times, Jain said that he enjoys the habit, and it is not something he wants to give up anytime soon. He also highlighted that he is generous with the money he receives. “I’m not greedy, I’m generous. I donate money to temples and charities,” he said.
Jain is not the only crorepati beggar. Burju Chandra Azad, a beggar who lost his life in a train accident in 2019, had also built up quite a fortune. The Mumbai police discovered that he had a fixed deposit of Rs 8.77 lakh and around Rs 1.5 lakh in cash, making him richer than he presented himself to be. Laxmi Das, Krishna Kumar Gite, and Pappu Kumar also fall under the category of rags to riches by begging.