Invest Karnataka: Sorry, no place for beggars and dogs

Bengaluru, Feb 4: The much-hyped three-day global meet Invest Karnataka-2016 kick-started with much fanfare in Bengaluru on February 3 (Wednesday). The who's who of political and business communities attended the inaugural ceremony with the promise to turn Karnataka into an investment "paradise".

In order to make Bengaluru, look like a world-class metropolis for the visiting guests from across the globe, the state government took utmost care to hide the dark realities of the city.

The government officials directed the Bengaluru Police to clear all beggars from the arterial roads of the city. The state government does not want the VIPs, especially from the foreign shores, to witness people with begging bowls on traffic signals.

"It has been learnt that special police officers have been deputed to check the presence of beggars on the city roads. As a large number of transgenders beg on the city roads, several of them have reported harassment from police. They have been asked to stay away from the roads," said Rajesh Umadivi, an activist.

Moreover, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials were engaged to keep stray dogs out from Palace Grounds, the venue of the global summit.

India's tech hub has a large population of stray canines and Palace Grounds locality is no different. Reports suggest that the locality has around 150 stray dogs and organisers don't want any dogs to come close to the venue.
BBMP has taken the service of dog-catchers to net the canines.

The three-day event aimed at attracting both domestic and foreign investment was kicked-off by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The inauguration of the investors' meet saw the participation of Union Ministers and business leaders, including Tata Trust Chairman Ratan Tata, Infosys Co-Founder and Chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy and Walmart India CEO Kris Iyer, to name a few.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaraiah is hoping to attract an investment of Rs 2.5 lakh crore in the coming days.

We don't know if the Chief Minister's wishes would be fulfilled or not, but one thing is for sure, stray dogs and beggars would hit the city roads again once the event gets over.

OneIndia News