It's worse even below poverty line!

Here is a case of one BPL family in the City, blaming the poor quality of rice and wheat for the increase in monthly expenditure.

Selvi (35), a domestic servant from the Tilaknagar slum, works in three to four houses a day to earn a meagre living of Rs 2,500. With her husband employed on a irregular basis and five children to feed, Selvi has a monthly grocery expenditure running up to Rs 4,000 per month. “This month we are yet to figure out the total expenditure, but I am certain it will be a huge burden on us,” she says.

Although Selvi and her husband hold ration cards, they do not believe in the Public Distribution System (PDS). “We do have ration cards, but the quality of rice and wheat is extremely poor. The rates are low and quantity is high, but the items supplied have stones and worms. Hence, we have to buy rice and wheat from outside and pay extra money,” Selvi laments.

Hoping for a better future for their children, Selvi and her husband have managed to enroll their five children in various educational institutions in the city. While the eldest is pursuing Class X11, the other two are in high school. The youngest is studying in first standard.

SHGs help
Unable to arrange for the heavy fees demanded by educational institutions, the domestic help has joined a Self Help Group (SHG) in the locality and borrowed nearly Rs 40,000 for paying her children’s fees.

“The Sangha has provided us with a loan that helps ease the burden of educational fee but the salary goes in paying the interest, however low it is,” says Selvi.