When VIPs visit Guwahati, where do its beggars go?

Whenever high-profile dignitaries visit Guwahati, be it Prime Minister Narendra Modi or others, the city undergoes a swift and visible makeover. Roads are swept clean, traffic is regulated with precision, security checkpoints multiply and public spaces are tightly controlled.

But amid the heightened security and freshly prepared routes, another change quietly unfolds that often goes unnoticed. Hundreds of homeless people and beggars who typically occupy footpaths, flyovers, market areas and temple precincts gradually disappear from public view.

The cycle of removal

Abdul, who sits near Sukreswar Mandir, says he has never been taken to a shelter home. Instead, he claims he is routinely pushed out of sight during security drives. “Police often remove us from here,” he says, adding, “Even during this Republic Day, we were forced to leave. But they don’t take us anywhere.”

According to Abdul, the relocation is temporary and informal. When officials arrive, he gathers his belongings and shifts to a nearby footpath or temple. “Once the VIP leaves or after a few days of drives, I come back to my original place,” he explains.

For Abdul, survival depends largely on offerings from devotees. “People give food every day,” he says, adding that this informal support system keeps him anchored to the area.

Ganesh Haloi, who is also found near Sukreswar Mandir, recounts a harsher experience. Originally from Hajo, he came to Guwahati in search of work but eventually ended up on the streets.

A scene from Sukreswar Ghat, Pan Bazaar, Guwahati (Photo: AT)

“When the drive happens, police storm in with warnings and batons. They don’t give us time to ask anything. If we don’t comply, they beat us,” he alleges. Asked whether he has ever received government support or rehabilitation, Ganesh shakes his head in denial.

Under the Ulubari flyover, Syeda Begum has been living beneath a concrete pillar for the past two weeks. Earlier, she stayed near Paltanbazar. “I have not been removed from here yet,” she says. “But earlier, when the Prime Minister visited, I was cleared off from Paltanbazar.”

Syeda survives by picking garbage and occasionally begging. For her, displacement depends on location and timing. She says certain areas are targeted more aggressively during VIP visits.

Rafiq Sarkar, also seen under the Ulubari flyover, offers a different account. “Officials once took me to a shelter,” he recalls. “They said there would be free food and shelter.” However, his stay did not last. “I couldn’t remain there. I escaped,” Sarkar says, without elaborating further.

State counters street claims

Officials from the District Social Welfare Department, however, present a very different picture. A district-level officer of the Department says relocation is not limited to VIP visits.

“We carry out drives almost every month,” the officer says, adding that the operations are conducted under the Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE) scheme.

Under the scheme, beggars are relocated to government-run and NGO-operated shelter homes. For women, shelters under Shakti Sadan, including GOLD, NABARD, and Nirmal Ashroy in Narengi are designated.

Other facilities include Indian Council For Child Welfare (ICCW) in Geetanagar under the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, mental health homes such as Jai Mata Di and Help Aid in Sonapur, and old-age homes like Matri Niwas.

“These homes provide food, water, clothes, medical care, everything,” the officer claims.

According to the department, relocation drives involve coordination between the Social Welfare Department, Guwahati Municipal Corporation, police, district administration, and NGOs.

GMC provides vehicles, while police personnel remain present to maintain law and order.

Why do they return?

Despite repeated drives, officials admit that many return to the streets. “We relocated many from Ulubari Chariali and Sukreswar Temple. But they come back,” the district officer says.

With their belongings stacked beside them, street-side residents sit under Ulubari flyover in the city (Photo: AT)

Sukreswar Ghat, in particular, is difficult to manage. “They do not want to stay in confined facilities. They escape,” the officer says, noting that many receive three meals a day from temple offerings.

A junior assistant from the District Social Welfare Department, also requesting anonymity, adds that many individuals in Sukreswar are neither elderly nor ill. “Most of them are young. They sit there for food and a place to sleep,” the junior assistant says.

According to officials, addiction is another reason for resistance. “One reason people escape is that they don’t get alcohol or addictive substances inside homes,” the junior assistant explains.

Force, consent & constraints

Officials concede that consent is not always obtained. “We try to persuade them. But some become aggressive. In such cases, police use force,” the district officer says.

The officer also acknowledges the lack of a written standard operating procedure. “There is no specific guideline. We rescue them and relocate them,” the officer says.

Capacity remains a major challenge. Mental health shelter homes in Guwahati can accommodate around 25 to 30 people, but currently house 40 to 50, according to officials. “We urgently need more mental homes,” the junior assistant says, adding that funding delays further strain operations.

VIP visits & visibility

Both officials claim that in the past month alone, more than 25 beggars have been relocated. Yet the distance between official assurances and street-level accounts is hard to ignore.

Authorities speak of designated shelter homes and structured rehabilitation. Those on the pavements speak of being told to move, to disappear, to return only after the convoy has passed.

Women & children sharing a meal while sitting along a wall near Paltanbazar railway station in Guwahati (Photo: AT)

As Guwahati prepares for high-profile visits ahead of the Assembly polls, the pattern is predictable - clear the routes, empty the pavements, restore order for the cameras.

Some are taken to shelters. Others simply scatter to adjoining lanes, under flyovers, behind temples, waiting for the city to loosen its grip. When the security grid lifts, many drift back to their old spots. Survival leaves little room for alternatives.

For Abdul, Ganesh, Syeda and countless others, the streets offer something institutions often do not - daily food, familiar faces, and a measure of autonomy, however precarious.

Until rehabilitation becomes more than a periodic drive and shelter capacity matches reality, the question will linger - is Guwahati solving the problem, or just sanitising it for VIP visits?