Half a dollar a day 'adequate' states India's main planning body

BBC 21 September 2011 Half a dollar a day 'adequate' Millions of Indians live below the poverty line. India's main planning body has said half a dollar a day is "adequate" for a villager to spend on food, education and health. Critics say that the amount fixed by the Planning Commission is extremely low and aimed at "artificially" reducing the number of poor who are entitled to state benefits. There are various estimates on the exact number of poor in India. Officially, 37% of India's 1.21bn people live below the poverty line. But one estimate suggests the true figure could be as high as 77%. The Planning Commission has told India's Supreme Court that an individual income of 25 rupees (52 cents) a day would help provide for adequate "private expenditure on food, education and health" in the villages. In the cities, it said, individual earnings of 32 rupees a day (66 cents) were adequate. The Planning Commission was responding to a direction from the court to update its poverty line figures to reflect rising prices. India has been struggling to contain inflation which is at a 13-month high of 9.78%. Many experts have said the income limit to define the poor was too low. "This extremely low estimated expenditure is aimed at artificially reducing the number of persons below the poverty line and thus reduce government expenditure on the poor," well-known social activist Aruna Roy told The Hindu newspaper. The Planning Commission also told the court that 360 million Indians are now being supplied with subsidised food and cooking fuel through the network of state-owned shops. A World Bank report in May said attempts by the Indian government to combat poverty were not working. It said aid programmes were beset by corruption, bad administration and under-payments. BBC © 2011

Aarohan News Letter - Teach the Mother Project

TEACH THE MOTHER PROJECT

Aarohan's aim is to attain 100% literacy in India. We had left one block unattended in our work towards achieving this goal i.e. Adult Education. Our experience with the class 10 students of our Shikhar project made us realize that despite of these children doing really well in their examination, their parents do not know what an excellent academic performance means.

We are utilizing all possible resources to prepare our meritorious students for taking the entrance examination in professional and technical courses like engineering and medicine. For this, we are happily bearing the entire cost of tuition classes, textbooks, stationery, transportation etc. as our students are talented and hard working. However, there is a total lack of motivation and direction from their parents as they are illiterate.

This particular experience gave birth to our " Teach the Mother" project which was inaugurated on 1st August and where we aim to make women of Jagdamba Camp, New Delhi at least functionally literate. 80% students from this urban slum dwelling study at Aarohan. Therefore the people here have an unquestioning trust in Aarohan's work. In spite of this, they are not very open- minded about studying. We had to do a lot of convincing before the women agreed to come out of their homes to learn reading and writing. However to our utter surprise, we realized that the number of women attending the class kept increasing. Initially they were hesitant to attend the classes due to social stigma but are actually very enthusiastic about getting this opportunity to learn.

We read in a paper by UNICEF that teaching basic reading and writing to adults takes a long time but our experience has been delightfully different. The women are so eager to learn that they are making progress at a remarkable rate. They are coming forward to study and are also practicing diligently at home what they are being taught in class. They want to study so that they are not cheated, so that they are able to help their children in academics and to gain the respect of their husbands and families. Along with studying, they are also addressed about the importance of health, hygiene and sanitation.

This was an area that needed immediate attention and we are happy to be able to help these women become educated and self- reliant.


DILLI HAAT EVENT
Aarohan organized a day long event at Dilli Haat on 13th August. It was a combined celebration of India's 65th Independence Day- which encapsulates the spirit of freedom, Raksha Bandhan- symbol of love, care and affection and the nation's ongoing fight against corruption. This event aimed to sensitize people and make them aware that each one of us has a responsibility towards our country. The day began with an art competition that was inaugurated and judged by National Award Recipient Shri Ganga Narayan Maharana. Many children participated and drew innovative drawings on the themes of "My Childhood" and "India of My Dreams". Later, Aarohan students gave captivating dance performances on Rajasthani folk and patriotic songs. Some students also put up Nukkad Natak (Street plays) on anti corruption and the importance of traffic rules. The evening was brightened by toddlers who looked splendid in different regional costumes in the fancy dress competition. The event came to a close with the prize distribution and an address by Aarohan President- Ms Rani Patel.

JANMASHTHMI
Lord Krishna is worshipped across India and his birth anniversary is celebrated with great enthusiasm as Janmashthmi. Aarohan students put up a dance performance and Veda Recitation on the occasion of Janmashthmi at Shri Laxmi Narayan temple in Malviya Nagar on 22nd August 2011. The students were taught the traditional dance by Aarohan’s dance teacher Shri Dinesh Parihar and won the first prize in the competition.