Indian City Bans Begging Ahead Of Ivanka Trump's Visit

As President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump is set to visit Indian city Hyderabad in the state of Telangana, police have been rounding off beggars from the streets of the city.

Trump is a senior advisor to her father and is scheduled to be a featured speaker at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad.

The summit, which will be jointly hosted by the U.S. and India from Nov. 28-30, will also be attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Trump is a fourth generation businessperson who has followed in the footsteps of her great-grandmother Elizabeth Christ Trump, grandfather Fred Trump, and her father.

According to Telangana officials, the drive against begging was launched because of two upcoming international events to be held in the city — the GES in November and the World Telugu Conference in December.

The three-day GES will start on November 28 wherein 800 entrepreneurs from the U.S. and the rest of the world, and 400 entrepreneurs from India would be present.

Over the past week, more than 200 beggars have been transported to separate male and female shelter homes located on the grounds of two city prisons.

According to various reports, authorities have been asked to strictly enforce a begging ban on the city’s streets and in other public places till Jan. 7, 2018. Also a Rs 500 ($7.67) bounty will be given to anyone who leads police to a beggar.

According to the Metro News, U.K. though more than 20 percent of the Indian population lives on less than $1.98 a day, anti-begging laws are rarely enforced.

The anti-begging campaigners said that Hyderabad has about 13,000 beggars, and half of them are very poor and need help to meet their daily needs.

The beggars have been rounded up from traffic junctions, bus stations and railway stations, where they often find themselves separated from their family members.

They are being offered clean clothes, a shower and a bed. But they're also being fingerprinted before they're allowed to leave and have been told that they could be imprisoned if they are found begging again.

Telangana Director-General (Prisons) V K Singh said the step towards removing beggars from street seems to be working and most of them are out of sight. “We will complete the clearing of beggars from the city roads by the end of the month," he said.

Hyderabad Police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy said that people were begging in an indecent manner.

“They are also employing children and handicapped persons to solicit or receive alms at the main junctions of the road. Such acts are causing annoyance and awkwardness,” Reddy said.

Before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Indian capital New Delhi, a similar drive was taken up to "beautify" the city. As part of the campaign, slums were knocked down and thousands of beggars were pushed to the fringes of the city.