In reaction to the Planning Commission’s affidavit to the Supreme Court on what they think should be the poverty line, the New Delhi edition of The Asian Age newspaper has been running a series of reports under the heading LIFE OF THE POOR.
So far three reports have been published. Here are excerpts:
‘Govt has no idea how much a meal costs’
By editor
Created 26 Sep 2011 – 00:00
“Come stay with us, live our lives just for one day and then decide how a person who spends more than Rs 31 is no longer poor”.
40-year-old Gajodhar, who lives in a ‘jhuggi jhompdi’ (cluster colony) near Vasant Kunj, is a daily wager.
His day’s earning, he says, is not fixed, but it, for sure, is never more than Rs 250. “What are they talking about? Do they have an idea how much a day’s meal for a family of 5 costs? I have to pay Rs 1,500 as rent for the jhuggi. Minimum Rs 20 per day for water. Rs 50 monthly for my children’s school. Why don’t they (government) live with us and see how we survive,” he says.
‘We can only eat dal and potatoes’
By editor
Created 27 Sep 2011 – 00:00
“Yes, I spend more than `31 on some days but there are days when I don’t even earn a penny. Doesn’t a kilo of flour cost `18, doesn’t an onion kg cost `20? Look at me. Do I look happy? All I pray to God is let me be born a stone but not poor in my next life.”
Bhumani (40), who washes clothes at a house in Vasant Kunj, is a mother of four. She, along with her family, migrated toDelhifromJhansiten years ago in search of employment. Her eldest daughter is physically challenged. She neither goes to school, nor can she work anywhere.
“We are a family of six. I and my husband earn almost `100 per day, collectively. There are days when I spend more than `31…but there are days when we do not earn anything at all. Although we just eat potatoes or dal, even this is not cheap,” she says.
‘We live on, but with false promises’
By editor
Created 28 Sep 2011 – 00:00
Every time her 6-year-old son asks her when she would buy him a pair of shoes instead of the borrowed ones he always gets to wear, Indu makes yet another false promise and consoles him again. For 38-year-old Indu’s son, getting his own shoes is like a dream, whose realisation doesn’t seem to be anytime soon.
Working as a cleaner at a house, Indu along with his husband earn around `100 per day. She says her son grumps about his torn shoes every day after coming back from school.
“I am tired of making false promises. You know a cup of tea without milk costs `3 less than with milk. We never have tea with milk…we can’t afford it,” she says.
Indu has three children and so the family of five makes ends meet somehow.
She says she has a list of grievances with the government and cannot forgive it for being insensitive to the plight of the poor.
“Will they question how much we spend in a day? Will that decide if we are poor or not? Do we question the government on its spending or how rich get richer,” she says.
Distraught by the news that she might not be enlisted in the BPL list because there are days when she spends more than `32, she said, “The government does not want to wipe poverty but the poor.”
So, I wasn’t quite joking in my previous post 12th Garibi Hatao Plan. This is the grim reality.
