As the haves wallow in ‘luxury’, the have-nots continue to suffer

We’ve crossed India’s 72nd Independence Day –may be a short span in the life of a nation but it is nevertheless quite a distance to measure progress by. There is no doubt that India has made progress in various fields, possibly the most in science and technology and medical science.

Recently, Mukesh Ambani launched Jio Fiber, announced the Jio-Microsoft Cloud partnership and the $75 billion deal with Saudi Aramco. Jio Giga Fiber, possibly being rolled out now, offers free voice calls for life from landline phones, high speed broadband of minimum speed of 100 mbps, free high definition TV and dish at minimum monthly subscription of Rs 700.

And, what’s more, from mid-2020, premium Jio Giga Fiber customers will also get to watch new movies on the same day of its release, meaning they can watch movies at home the same day they are released in theatres! Unimaginable once, but within the grasp of reality now. This is one side of India.

The other side is about how many people can afford such luxury. Yes, luxury. When Rs 700 means a lot to them, even when considered as monthly expenditure. After all, food, clothing and shelter, the basics, matter much more than being able to watch a movie on the day of its release on television. It is a story of extremes – one side that can enjoy Jio Fiber and the other that can only look forward to its next meal.

This is, of course, no comment on the exceptional entrepreneurship shown by Ambani as well as his endeavour to bring such facilities to the common person, but it certainly is a comment about the reality that stares us in the face 72 years after Independence.

Sakuntala Narasimhan, a senior journalist who writes for our (Press Institute of India) publications, mentions the trillion-dollar India and a Bharat where dollars are unheard of. Indeed, education, health, even water for survival, are beyond the reach of the marginalised in India, those who lives hinge around the poverty line – and they make up millions!

Let’s spare a thought for the widow bringing up three daughters, who is unable to procure her entitlement of ration rice, sugar and dal, though she has Aadhar and BPL cards. The poor woman, month after month, buys her requirements of rice in the open market, paying prices that she just cannot afford.

Is there concern for the weaker sections and their basic needs in budgetary allocations? Basic needs include access to health care services. For the bulk of rural people, the nearest source of health care is the community health centre where more than 70 per cent of the posts of specialists (surgeons, physicians, paediatricians) remain unfilled or vacant. 

Many efforts have been taken by trade unions over the years to help workers. Such efforts have been a source of hope and inspiration even though they can never be completely successful. There are the poor conditions of service, misery of workers, insecurity of employment and rampant exploitation

A World Bank report states that 33 per cent or 400 million of the world’s poor are in India. More than two-thirds of Indians live in rural areas and nearly 50 per cent of the workforce is employed in agriculture. Most cultivators are small, marginal farmers and poor peasants who own less than three acres of land. There are no other opportunities for them to enhance their income.

Farmers often resort to distress sale of their products. It is a monopoly market where corporate houses are the price-makers and farmers are the price-takers. Rapid and unpredictable changes in food prices have wreaked havoc on factory-labour and product markets, politics and social stability.

How do we tackle the problem? Vibhuti Patel, professor, Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, says that to deal with urban and rural hunger, community-managed food banks must be created, restaurants must be told not to destroy unsold food but to deposit it in local food banks, and farmers should be encouraged to sell their products directly to customers without any interference by governments.

There is still such a long, long way to go...