Hyderabad police commissioner banned begging within the city limits till January 7 as Ivanka Trump will be in the city for Global Entrepreneurship Summit to be held in Hyderabad. The Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which will be held in Hyderabad from November 28 to 30, will see a galaxy of dignitaries, among them Ivanka Trump, the daughter of United States President Donald Trump. After this summit, city will also host the World Telugu Conference and the Indian Science Congress. So until 7th Jan, Hyderabad will be a beggar free city.

The Police commissioner’s last week’s order states that begging at main road junctions is dangerous to the safety of the vehicular traffic and public in general. Now that’s a revelation! What kept the officials from realising this till now? Or, will begging be less dangerous two months from now?. Or if Ivanka is not visiting the city, there is no problem of any sort for the general public because of these beggars?

Ok, forget about general public’s inconvenience. But is this move at least doing any good to those beggars? No. Temporarily moving out from sight underprivileged people who seek alms for a living is not the solution — it’s not even a temporary one. Instead of treating them as eyesores, governments must enable them with tools that can take them away from begging, and help live a better life. Clearing beggars off the streets will not address urban poverty. Moving the underprivileged people out of sight is not even a temporary solution. It is one which insults human dignity and tries to mask the real reasons why people are on the streets. For this the root cause must be addressed: give people alternative forms of work so that they will not have to demean themselves by asking others for sustenance.

If the intention is good (to make Hyderabad a beggar free city), it has to be done for the people of Hyderabad, not for the sake of Ivanka’s visit and it has to be done with commitment not as a temporary action.