Yahoo! News August 29, 2007
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070829/211/6k1p7.html

836 million Indians live on less than Rs 20 a day
by IBNLive.com

Wednesday August 29, 09:02 AM New Delhi: An overwhelming 836 million people in India live on a per capita consumption of less than Rs 20 a day, according to the findings of the Arjun Sengupta report on the Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihood in the Unorganised Sector. The report is based on government data for the period between 1993-94 and 2004-05.

While the numbers rose by a staggering 100 million, the numbers of the new rich has also grown by 93 million.

"Our survey is very scientific. The other poverty estimates looked at the absolute poor only but we look at different categories of poor," Chairman, National Commission for Enterprises in Unorganised Sector, Arjun Sengupta said.

So, who are the ones who have actually benefitted from the boom in the economic growth of the country?

The middle class and the rich grew from 162 million to 253 million while the neo rich of 91 million.

The middle class grew from 15.5 per cent to 19.3 per cent but the extreme poor have also benefited (274 to 237 million) – 43 million of them to be precise. Their per capita consumption has gone up from Rs 9 to Rs 12.

"The rich tend to hide their consumption. So if you account for that, they are actually richer than the report reflects. This again reflects the fact that the gap between the rich and poor is even wider," Sengupta explained.

One is classified as absolutely poor if the per capita consumption is less than Rs 9 a day. However, if the per capita consumption is Rs 13 a day, then the individual is above the poverty line. So, the definitions of poverty are sometimes difficult to understand.

The justification for economic reforms was supposed to be the trickle down effect but for those who live in trying conditions 10 years of economic reforms seems to have made little difference. Is it any wonder that those leaders who are seen to be reformers can never win the popular vote?

Comment from Dr. Aulakh: See the extent of povery in India. Two-thirds of the population lives on 40 cents per day. India shouldn’t waste resources on nuclear development, which is 25 percent of their development budget, but should focus on uplifting the people through education, health care, and food distribution. If two thirds of India is so poor, what is the use of concentrating the wealth in the top five or ten percent? It is inhuman and immoral. India must change priorities. India is not one nation. It is a conglomerate of many nations thrown together by the British. It has 18 official languages. India must let the nations they rule have freedom. The Sikhs have been struggling for freedom for 20 years and the Indian government has spent vast resources to suppress them. Similarly, they have spent vast amounts of money and force to suppress the freedom of Kashmir, Nagaland, and others. India has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs, over 90, 00 Muslims in Kashmir, over 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, and tens of thousands of other minorities and it holds more than 52,000 Sikh political prisoners and tens of thousands of others as political prisoners as well. It is in India’s best interest to let these minority nations (Assamese, Bengalis, Bodos, Kashmiris, Manipuris, Nagas, Tamils, the Sikhs of Punjab, Khalistan, and others)be free and concentrate their resources on uplifting the lives of the people. That is how everyone in South Asia can live in freedom, prosperity, dignity, and peace.

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This material is circulated by the Council of Khalistan, which is registered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of the Council of Khalistan, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab. The material is filed with the DOJ where the required registration is available for inspection. Registration does not indicate approval of the contents by the U.S. Government.