G20 Summit: Beggars in Kashmere Gate to be shifted to night shelters

New Delhi: More than 1,000 beggars living in the Hanuman Mandir area near the Kashmere Gate ISBT will be shifted to night shelters in January in view of the G20 Summit to be held here in September next year, according to officials.

The city government had, on December 15, asked the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) to remove and relocate the beggars living in the area.

A four-member committee under the DUSIB chief engineer was constituted to coordinate with government agencies, including the deputy commissioner of police of the district concerned, and prepare an action plan for shifting these people to night shelters.

"More than 1,000 beggars have been identified during a survey conducted in the area on Wednesday and Thursday," a DUSIB official told PTI.

These people will be shifted to night shelters by the first week of January. The differently-abled beggars would be taken to institutional care facilities and the child welfare committees of the women and child development department will take care of the children.

Non-government organisations (NGOs) working for the welfare of homeless people in the national capital have opposed the move, citing a 2018 Delhi High Court order.

"The Delhi High Court had, on August 8, 2018, struck down the provisions of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 and emphasised against detaining beggars in beggars' homes or other facilities," Sunil Kumar Aledia from the Centre For Holistic Development said.

"The order for the removal of the beggars from the Hanuman Mandir area and to detain them in night shelters of the DUSIB is in total violation of the high court judgment and needs to be revoked," he added.

The DUSIB official quoted above said: "These homeless people sleep out in the cold on the roadside and beg for food. The government wants to give them shelter and food. I think it is a positive step." Delhi's Pragati Maidan is the main venue of the G20 Leaders' Summit, which will be held on September 9 and 10 next year.

The leaders' summit will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and around 200 meetings held throughout the year with ministers, senior officials and civil societies starting in December.

India took over the presidency of the G20 on December 1.  The Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries and the European Union (EU). Its members represent around 85 per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), more than 75 per cent of the global trade and about two-thirds of the world population.