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The most expensive residence in the world, worth $1 billion, is located in Mumbai, India. Its owner is the 19th richest man in the world. Meanwhile, 62 percent of Mumbai lives in slums.
Poverty in India worsens HARSIMRAN MAKKAD
executive web editor-in-chief
We read about the plights of third world countries in our textbooks, witness footage of war and famine on the news, and hear about poverty and death from those around us. But nothing is the same as when you see it in person. This summer, like many summers, I traveled to a rapidly developing country on the other side of the globe: India. Arriving to the sweltering 110 degree dry heat, I was prepared for the sheer number of people outside the airport, the pollution-stricken atmosphere of the city, the run-down buildings lining the neighborhood street. What I was not prepared for was the sight of a family begging on the side of the busy road and the children digging through the trash, searching for any crumbs of food. No matter how many times I visit the country, I am still shocked by the mass poverty I see.
The Solution
On Aug. 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi launched his Quit India Movement to
The Reality The World Bank estimates that one in five Indians live below the poverty line. This equates to nearly 270 million people, making up a third of the world’s poor. 56 percent of the population is unable to meet basic needs such as food, drinking water, housing, sanitation, healthcare, and education. “Whenever I go to India I always see homeless people begging for food or money,” said Lavanya Konda, 12. In fact, over 195 million are undernourished, comprising 25 percent of those hunger-stricken around the world.
BY THE NUMBERS
56%
of Indians are unable to meet basic needs
Indians make up RUN-DOWN LIVING. Run-down and termite-infested buildings are commonplace in India. They remain forgotten even as the country’s economy surges 7.6 percent. “Overpopulation definitely contributes to the vast amount of poverty, but people don’t listen to any government control because they believe that more kids will result in more help,” said Lavanya Konda, 12. All photos courtesy: Harsimran Makkad.
runs rampant in banks and in the government. Economic disparity defines the country. This allows the rich to grow richer India’s “black economy,” economic while the poor sink further into poverty. activities done “off the books,” thrives “In the past 20 years, India has been on the bribery and corruption that developing a robust economy. Yet, at the
The Problem
the open, the Wealth Report estimates free India from the clutches of imperialism. “I look at poverty from two that the assets of the country’s elites 75 years later, Prime Minister Narendra different perspectives - either it is have increased 290 percent in the last Modi is calling for a new movement - to rapidly increasing or stabilizing, even decade. free India from the scourges of poverty decreasing. As there are no population This economic gulf is a result of the within the next five years. controls, because the poor get poorer lack of effective governmental aid to the “In 1942, the clarion call was karenge ya and have lots of children, there is an poor. While marenge (do or die) - today it expanding class at the bottom. [I’VE HEARD THAT] India has is karenge aur kar ke rahenge “At the same time, the technology the seventh (do and resolve to get it done),” sector is growing exponentially, so it THE GOVERNMENT largest Modi said, according to The is easier for people in the middle to IS SO...CORRUPT economy in Hindustan Times. work their way to the top. the world, The government’s current THAT ANY ‘HELP’ “In this way, you could argue that with a GDP of policies keep the poor at the there is a kind of equilibrium that is NEVER REACHES $2.11 trillion, government’s mercy and are not established for poverty,” said Rishav THOSE IN NEED it is not a sincere in their efforts. They Dasgupta, 12. welfare state. are marred by incompetence, To get out of this equilibrium, the Lavanya Konda, 12 The wastefullness, and corruption. Finance Ministry suggests giving basic McKinsey “Until the government figures income to the poor. Basic income is a Global Institute calculates that only half out these issues, lots of Indians will form of social security that provides of the money spent on basic services continue to feel that their situations are regular income to all Indian residents circulates as real benefits for the hopeless, causing many to go somewhere regardless of whether or not they people. else. This was a major factor in the brain work. “Based on what I've heard from drain that was prominent in the 1990s and Maybe there is a glimmer of hope my parents, the government is so 2000s,” Wittman said. for the future after all. deplorable and corrupt that any ‘help’ The country has a long way to go before never reaches those in need,” Konda it can reverse the rising trend of poverty. said. While $500 billion of illegal money BY THE PICTURES are deposited overseas, 44 percent No matter where you travel in the country, the poverty of the people is evident. of children under the age of five are Everything from run-down infrastructure to the lack of technology to the dirty and underweight. crowded streets are characterstic of the general standard of living.
same time, there is a large gap between education levels and living conditions,” said Mr. Kevin Wittman, government teacher. In fact, while 17 percent of urban India lives in informal housing or out in
Sources: worldbank.org, nationalgeographic.com, huffingtonpost.in, globalresearch.ca, cia.gov, censusindia.gov.in, Bloomberg Billionaires Index
1/3 of the world’s poor
44%
of children under the age of five are underweight