The current prohibition of beggars from Hyderabad city will be enforced only for 2 months. This also means that the authorities have not been able to find a permanent solution to begging in India.
Police in Hyderabad is busy from the last few days to remove beggars from the city ahead of Ivanka Trump’s visit to the southern Indian state for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
The effort of the police is seen as a face-lifting tactics of the Telangana government. Hyderabad is home to around nine million people and is also a growing technology hub in India that houses tech firms like Google and Microsoft.
As of now, Hyderabad police has removed close to 400 beggars from the city calling begging an act dangerous to traffic and public in general. All beggars removed from the city premises have been rehabilitated at the Chanchalguda jail.
The Hyderabad police plan to remove close to 6,000 beggars from the city to several rehabilitation centers located in different parts of the city and give the homeless shelter.
Even though begging is prohibited by law in India, it is widely prevalent and law enforcement agencies overlook it.
The current prohibition of beggars from Hyderabad city will be enforced only for 2 months. This also means that the authorities have not been able to find a permanent solution to begging in India.
President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who is also his adviser, will represent the US delegates during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit that will be held from November 28 to 30.
According to officials, Ivanka Trump plans to go for sightseeing during her trip to Hyderabad and it seems like the government of Telangana doesn’t want to show her the darker face of the tech hub.
Also, it seems like the whole effort is to change the perception about Indian cities unlike what it has been portrayed in Hollywood movies such as “Slum Dog Millionaire”
This is not the first time that the local police is doing such a large-scale rehabilitation of beggars. Earlier during the visit of former President Bill Clinton in 2000 similar operation was conducted by the Hyderabad police.
The Hyderabad police posted the images of beggars who have been temporarily held in the rehabilitation center. Some of the long-time residents of Hyderabad have tweeted in favor of the move and some have even sarcastically requested Ivanka to stay back long as the authorities will keep the city clean.