India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement

Re:India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement by denzil_correa on Saturday April 13, 2013 @07:38PM (#5545144)

There may be a lot of misconceptions on the poor and class divide in India. I would like to answer some of them by posting some numbers and providing context.

Who are the 'poor' in India?

The poor in India, according to the Planning Commission, are people who live on 32 Indian Rupees/59cents per day.

How many people are poor in India?

The Planning Commission of India reports that there are 29.8% of the population who are 'poor' [0,1]. This roughly equates to 360 Million people who live below the poverty line.

Are the numbers for poor accurate?

May be, may be not. Some believe these numbers could be as high as 77% specially considering the inflation rate and other factors.

Is it possible to live on 59 cents per day?

No but that's not even the main problem. Here is a comment from Jean Dréze, an economist and former member of the National Advisory Council India [2],

   “What is really shocking is not that the official poverty line is abysmally low, but that even with that abysmal 
   benchmark, so many people are below it.The belated discovery that it is impossible to have a dignified 
   life on the official poverty line draws our attention to the appalling living conditions of the Indian poor.” Taking a 
   position diametrically opposed to Mr. Bhalla and Mr. Panagariya, Mr. Drèze argues, “The message about the terrifying 
   nature of 'hidden poverty’ in India has been somewhat lost in the din of the recent debate.”

Even with such a low price point the number of poor in India are staggering.

Is there a class divide in India (in particular Delhi) and possess a sense of entitlement?

Yes. I would recommend reading on how the elite tried to stifle Delhi's first Bus Rapid Transit system by filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi HC [3]. Here is the reason from the petitioner's (a car owner in Delhi) on why he decided to file the petition

    "Car owners are the creators of wealth. Do you realise that they get exhausted sitting in their cars due to traffic 
    jams and they reach office completely tired? It affects their efficiency. Do you want them to perform less?" asks the 
    main petitioner BB Sharan.You cannot keep a commander-in-chief waiting in traffic while his army is waiting for his 
    orders. How does it matter if a peon reaches office five minute before time?"

This is the attitude of the "rich" in India. The society doesn't matter as long as their work gets done.

[0] http://planningcommission.nic.in/news/press_pov1903.pdf

[1] http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_pov.pdf

[2] http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/what-does-indias-p...

[3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-19572583

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Re:India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement by ashray on Sunday April 14, 2013 @02:43AM (#5546146)

Thanks for posting this since a lot of people have been asking for numbers and it was late last night and I couldn't really dig up sources for all the info I posted.

You're absolutely right about the huge gap that exists between people trying to just make it, and even the middle class who have a roof over their heads. Unfortunately, most city dwellers fail to acknowledge this.

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Re:India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement by baali on Sunday April 14, 2013 @07:34AM (#5546639)

This link might be a good read related to income per day context and an attempt to manage in that much amount: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Harsh_Mander/barefoo...

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Re:India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement by denzil_correa on Sunday April 14, 2013 @02:03PM (#5547601)

TFS. I was trying to find this article but I couldn't.

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