Poverty in India

                                    POVERTY IN INDIA

 

                    While traveling from my home to my college in Navi Mumbai, I have to walk down from my home to station every morning and here is a one experience I would like to share. Outside my housing complex, we have a garbage bin where the local people living outside our housing complex throw their garbage. Every morning I have to pass through that strong foul smell of garbage which the municipal corporation cleans it rarely. Once just walking on a chilly December morning, I came across two girl rag pickers sorting garbage from that pile. Suddenly one girl exclaimed in joy-look I have found toothpaste in the Colgate pack. I looked at her curiously and I found her holding that flattened toothpaste pack trying desperately to remove the remaining paste and cleaning her teeth with a sense of satisfaction. I felt very sorry for that girl who instead of going to school was taking care of this dirty job.   

                    Actually the situation of poverty in India is very grim and worse where I see every day many people who don’t even are able to manage two time meal for their family. Is that shining and vibrant India? In this country where lakhs of rupees are spend by people on lavish weddings and many times I have seen food being thrown away by people instead of giving it to the poor. Here we eat peacefully at home and outside on footpath I see many people sleeping with no food in stomach. Yes the Linkin park’s video “what have I done?” correctly depicts a young woman measuring her waist and at the other end you see a man starving with his waist size naturally reduced. This video clearly depicts the two sides of a coin, the rich at one side and the poor at the other.

                   The problem in India is graver with small children being forced into begging by their families in order to support their large families. It is a common scene in Mumbai outside a railway station where you find woman holding a small child and begging in hope of small change when we try to get coins with the auto rickshaw driver. I hate them because instead of getting self employed by doing work like housemaids who are in demand in Mumbai, they carry their small children in the scorching tropical sun of India.  

                   The Govt. of India should try to reduce poverty without which India can never become a developed country. Even NGO’s should be given more power to care of street children and poor. I hope some or the other day I will see poverty in India completely reduced