Former Delhi High Court Judge questions eviction of beggars for CWG

New Delhi, May 14 (ANI): Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A. P Shah has criticized the State Government for evicting beggars and other 'have-nots' from Delhi.

He was speaking after the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), a non-government body, released its progress report on the government's intended plans in the run-up to the October 2010 Common Wealth Games.

"Authorities are cleaning street vendors, rickshaw pullers and other informal sector workers of the road in the process depriving thousands of the urban poor of their livelihood," said Shah.

Miloon Kothari, one of the panelists, said the holding of the Games contravened India's Constitutional.

Kothari said the excessive costs involved in staging the games event ignore the reality of high levels of poverty, hunger, inequality, homelessness and malnutrition.

The HLRN report has posed several questions such as the rationale for spending billions of rupees on the event vis-'-vis the key pre and post event general recommendations and allied suggestions.

Human rights activists have raised several questions covering various dimensions of the Commonwealth Games, especially the level of expenditure on a one-time sporting event and actual delivery of benefits to the masses

Apart from Justice Shah and Kothari, others who took part in the panel discussion were Amitabh Kundu, Director of Hazards Centre and Dunu Roy of HLRN. (ANI)