‘Not hiding anything, just trying to give city a clean look’

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The beggars are missing from the streets and unclean spots are nowhere to be seen as the city hosts the 19th Commonwealth Games. The NGOs have been alleging that the government has been forcing the poor and the beggars to “hide” themselves. The government, however, maintains that it had the right to make the city look clean. In the run up to the Games, various civic agencies including the MCD and the NDMC have put up huge billboards of Commonwealth Games to hide the areas that have either not been completely constructed or are unclean. Also, the streets have been “sanitised” and the beggars as well as young men and boys selling newspapers, magazines, books and toys have disappeared.
Large billboards on the Commonwealth Games could be seen across the city, which at many places give an impression that the city government is making attempts to hide the unclean spots.
On the other hand, the Delhi government’s plans to make the city beggar-free in the run up to the Games have failed to take off, as they could still be seen at some of the usual places.
Though the government approached state governments to send the beggars back home in a kind of rehabilitation, the plan did not materialise. “We did not get any positive response from the state governments. We are not sending beggars to any state and are carrying out the routine operation to deal with the issue,” said director of the social welfare department of the Delhi government, S.C. Dikshit, who also denied that the city government is rounding up beggars in order to keep them out of sight. Amid allegations by NGOs, the government has maintained that it had the right to make the city look clean. In a recent interview to a television channel, chief minister Sheila Dikshit had said that there was no question of hiding the poor but the administration still had the right to do make the city look clean.