White House adviser Ivanka Trump is headed to Hyderabad, India later this month, where she will lead the United States delegation at this year’s three-day Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), Newsweek relayed. The summit, entitled “Women First, Prosperity for All,” is co-hosted by India, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed in a tweet to President Trump on August 10.
Hyderabad is preparing for the summit and for the First Daughter’s visit. On Wednesday, police launched an effort to clear beggars off city streets, the Times of India reported.
An estimated 400 beggars were relocated to rehabilitation centers and shelters.
City home to around 9 million people, expecting ‘several prominent personalities’
The clean-up drive isn’t partisan. In 2000, Hyderabad also conducted a sweeping effort when former President Clinton visited the city, which is home to an estimated 9 million people. Police relocated hundreds of beggars at that time, according to The News Minute (TNM).
In addition to Ivanka Trump, “several prominent personalities” will attend the platform intended to enhance global access and an opportunity for entrepreneurs to network, as well as innovate and create, according to TNM. India’s Prime Minister Modi will also attend the summit.
Hyderabad police issues ban on beggars, posing traffic danger
Police in Hyderabad aim to move 6,000 beggars off the streets prior to when foreign visitors arrive for the GES at the end of the month. According to the Washington Post, the city will impose a ban on begging until the beginning of January 2018.
On Tuesday, M. Mahender Reddy, Hyderabad Police Commissioner, issued an order imposing the ban.
The order states that some people are “employing children and handicapped persons,” the Post noted. Reddy also conveyed that some acts are posing a danger to people and traffic when beggars divert attention around vehicle traffic.
Beggars taken to shelters, rehabilitation, return to families
Men and women affected by the relocation operation are taken to separate jail shelters for rehabilitation, according to the Times.
Chanchalguda Central Jail is housing the men while Cherlapally Central Jail is housing the women. The children are staying with their mothers.
When authorities receive written declarations from family members, stating that they will take care of their relatives, the beggars are allowed to leave, the Times reported. Jail deputy Subash K. Chanchalguda estimated that five or six people each day are leaving and returning to their families’ homes. It is mainly people who are from states other than Telangana who are “staying for longer periods," Chanchalguda said.
Amma Nanna Anada Ashramama, a non-governmental organization (NGO), estimates that there are 13,000 beggars in Hyderabad, Telangana. The NGO is assisting Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the rehabilitation, which commenced in October.
Ivanka Trump, world leaders see city’s ‘best representation,’ not stereotypes
In case the U.S. President’s first daughter, Ivanka, chooses to site-see during her trip for the GES, Indian authorities said they are striving to better ensure that she, as well as world leaders attending, will “get the best representation of the city,” according to Newsweek. Authorities seek to prevent traffic problems and want their efforts to help avoid risks when dignitaries attend the summit.
Many Westerners already hold stereotypes of India embedded deeply in mind, wrote TNM. After the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” won the 2009 Oscar for Best Picture, existing stereotypes of slums and beggars entrenched in India broadened.
Many Americans, TNM reported, believe the cities are “overpopulated by beggars.”
2017 GES believes countries better economically ‘when women do better’
The emphasis of the 2017 GES is that countries fare better economically “when women do better,” according to a media release found on the U.S. Department of State’s website. Women’s voices “Their voices are critical to global security, prosperity, and peace.”
Ivanka Trump, a working woman, characterizes herself as a “vocal advocate for working women,” the Los Angeles Times reported in August. In addition to attending the summit, Ivanka Trump and India’s Prime Minister Modi are anticipated to speak before the entrepreneur-attendees.
MaryKay Carlson, who is a chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, conveyed that the United States is “thrilled to be partnering” with the Indian Government and Prime Minister Modi for the upcoming summit.
