Delhi's New Traffic Solution: A Model?

New Delhi, once teeming with beggars tapping on car windows and asking for handouts, is trying to change its image with a simple traffic rule. Under the new law, which went into effect earlier this month, motorists who impede the flow of traffic by giving beggars and street vendors money at stoplights are fined 100 rupees ($2). As a result, many of the city's 1.1 million indigents, including 500,000 child street workers, are moving off the streets... The new traffic ordinance, if it succeeds, is likely to become a model for other big cities, from Mumbai to Calcutta to Bangalore. Already, Pereira says, the number of motorists giving alms has dropped. Some beggars are relocating to other prime begging locations, such as temples or mosques; others are returning to their home villages."

Thanks to Chris Steins