January 13, 2005

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  Beggars 'pour into aid-rich coasts'
  From correspondents in Bangalore
  12jan05

  
  

  BEGGARS from the south Indian technology capital Bangalore have shifted operations to the tsunami-hit coastline where aid cash and supplies is overflowing.
  
  The traditional haunts of Bangalore's beggars - temples, mosques and churches as well as train and bus stations - were virtually deserted.

  
  

  The Times of India quotes Karnataka state's Beggar Relief Committee as saying, "beggars are an intelligent breed but are lazy."

  
  

  "They have been trained a lifetime to tell lies. They can survive anywhere and in any season. They are very capable in conning tsunami volunteers."
  

  AFP reporters in Nagapattinam district, which recorded more than 6000 deaths in the December 26 tragedy, have seen villagers who were not affected by the tsunamis lining the roads to beg for relief supplies intended for hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

  
  

   

  • 1:09 pm
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