FLIP SIDE

Property loss or experience gain?

A poor family comprising a husband, wife and their four children was weeping after the heavy spell of showers recently in the capital. Since they live in a low-lying slum area, the ruthless rains caused flood-like situation in their locality flowing majority of their household articles. They consider their lost items as their invaluable assets. The items they listed were a pair of clothes of father, three sarees of mother, the children’s clothes and broken toys, some kitchen utensils and of course the memorable family photograph they had taken once when the father had earned a cash incentive at his work one day.
Ironically, the local administration denies any property loss as it fails to discover any assessable damage. Yes, whatever the poor possess, neither startles anybody nor leaves anyone mouth agape as it usually happens when the well-knitted stories of rich and famous are narrated by free advertising individuals during their preposterous discussions.
Now, why we categorise property only in terms of its cost and not in terms of its utility factor? Of course, loss always brings gloom, but for society, more important is ‘who has endured it’. If a capable person suffers a loss, he can recuperate, but the same incident with poor sometime leads him to suicidal act.
A poor is a poor because he never manage to afford the substitutes of essential items. For a person with good income, having several pairs of shoes can be a lifestyle, but the poor could not even find the alternative for his torn piece of clothes. Where some people do not mind when their kids throw food while eating, the poor keeps even the half chapati to feed his child next morning. So, whatever the poor owns is his true property, but for
others, for local administration, for government, it is worthless.
The indifference of the responsible authorities makes some poor impassive and they go astray. They start believing that there is no humanity and amicability and the sole mantra of survival is to usurp everything they want. This habit gives birth to crime which in the gravest form becomes terrorism. However, some poor term the ‘property loss’ as ‘experience gain’. This helps their children to harness their emotions in impoverished conditions and to ride on the chariot of success.
Unfortunately, only few efforts are made to uplift these classes as majority of the schemes launched for them benefits the non-deserving individuals. However, the government still claims that its per capita income has increased in the backdrop of poor’s hell-like life. Why doesn’t the government clarify whether it simply wants to remain best state in terms of figures or it really wants to change the scenario in practical?
Is it not high time to help the poor realise about their own hidden skills instead of giving them free food? Why not the state governments and the Centre formulate a policy like mid-day meal for the poor when they work under various schemes like NREGS? At least the poor will develop self-respect that they got food because they worked. Although food for work scheme had been launched earlier but the concept failed because of corruption predominated from top to bottom. Besides, food, the poor should also get payment against their work.
Already the children of the poor get mid-day meals in the schools. So, the parents and children will get one time meal free from the government. Now, give them opportunity to spend few bucks to buy food for other half of the day. Let the habit of earning food prevail in them as aim should be to gradually rid them from survival stage and to encourage them to climb the ladder of progress in terms of living standards and thought process.
Perhaps, this will be the best liberty to the poor section after more than six decades of independence. At least, they, too, would then take pride in saying that India is a democratic country where everyone gets equal
opportunity to develop.