today and tomorrow

June 2011

Let Us Know and Be With Them - 9 Courses After (10+2) - 17 Share of Child Labour - 26

livelihoods June 2011

 Happy Fathers’ Day! Happy Environment!

NRLM is launched nationally. T-action is warming up. We are still awaiting serious monsoon. Schools opened.

Let us welcome the ban on plastics in the cities. Let us hope the ban universalises soon.

Let us hope community-owned resources and institutions for all their resources flourish. Let us hope convergences,
linkages, collaborations and partnerships materialise for the poor to realize their vision of being out of poverty for
good.

Let us salute the doctors who treat us taking all the risks. Let the religion of cooperation and collectivism flourish. Let
there be more legal forms available for people to be together, to do business and to provide service. Let us capture
our thoughts, words and deeds for us to see later. Let us write, e-write and record and play. Let us derive the
demographic dividend that we have. Let us care our people. Let us care our children. Let us care our elders.

Poverty reduction rhetoric has to move into the hands of the youth. They constitute more than a third-of-the
population, more than half-of-the productive population. They make choices where to put their energies for the
coming 2-3 decades and more. They collectively decide what works and what does not work. They define the style.
They define the trends. They define the direction for this country. Brightest amongst them have to deploy their brains
with sensitive hearts to address the issues in the complex domain of poverty and vulnerability reduction, livelihoods
and environment. We need them in large numbers to diligently push for positive changes in these domains at
various levels. They should make choice and come. Not by default! Not because they have no option! Because it is
extremely gratifying! Because it makes a human pure! Because it gives ‘joy’!

In this context, ‘livelihoods’ has responded to seeing poverty and livelihoods of the poor through youth lens. Six very
young men and women, towards the end of their teens, have spent a month to appreciate the poverty and
livelihoods of the poor in the world and in the country in their own way. They have looked at issues, the poor in
various settings, the people working with the poor, the organizations, the projects, the general context and the
trends in the context. They have surfed the net. They have talked to people. They have visited places. They have
interacted with the poor. They have analysed the enterprises. They have gone snap happy.

Finally, they are presenting this special edition ‘Youth Lens’ on Poverty. It is their lens. Our role has been limited to
being facilitators, clarification providers and broad editorial overseeing.

Blessed Mother Theresa, Nobel laureate and Bharat Ratna, is their legend because of her work as a naturalised
citizen of India through Missionaries of Charities away from her home. Aashayein Foundation by young
professionals engaged elsewhere is a way of they contributing to make a difference in the social development
arena. Making and selling Ganesh Idols is an enterprise that meets one-time demand in a year through the work
throughout the year. ‘The End of Poverty - Economic Possibilities for Our Time’, by Jeffrey Sachs gives us hope that
extreme poverty is indeed eradicable by 2025 if only we act. Glimpses into a slum, a roadside village and a primitive
tribal habitation and the lives of individual poor families show the reach of ‘youth lens’.
We agree that their lenses can be more focused and clearer. Nevertheless, they have used their lens for poverty. It
is a good beginning. With the appreciation that the responsive young men and women to the needs of the poor and
vulnerable in more concrete ways is the way forward, I remain thinking of ways to collectivization of livelihoods/
development workers across.

G Muralidhar
the ‘livelihoods’ team

2 June 2011 livelihoods

 Inside ...

‘livelihoods’ team 10
Poverty is a state where one lacks a certain amount of material
Editor-in-Chief G Muralidhar possessions or money. Absolute poverty refers to being unable to
Principal Editor T Nirmala afford basic human needs, such as clean and safe water, nutritious
food, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion
Senior Editor K Bharathi
people in the world are estimated to live in absolute poverty today.
Working Editor T Venkateshwarlu Relative poverty refers to the lacking a usual or socially acceptable
Edit Associates G Bhargava level of resources or income as compared with others within a
society or country.
P Lakshmi
M Lavanya
S Laxman
B Madhusudhan A Village on the National Highway, Gundrampally 6
G Madhu Vamsi
Case Studies of Poor Families 21
V Muralidhar
M Nilendu
S Rekha
Response 4
M Siddhartha
M Vijaybhasker Srinivas News 5
Legend Mother Theresa – Angel of Mercy 7
Guest Contributors to this special edi-
tion - Youth Lens: Kshetra Tribal Village - Sadarampenta 8
S Sarath Chandra
E Varun Reddy Perspectives Let Us Know and Be With Them! 9
N Aditheswar Reddy
Enterprise ‘Ganesh Idols’ Making 15
R Manikanta
T Swetha Interview with Work Hard and Earn... 16
apart from G Madhu Vamsi, Edit Associate Common Person
Subsector Courses After (10+2) 17
Development in Young Professionals - Aashayein 23
Action Foundation
Opinion Share of Child Labour 26

Context Aarogyasri Scheme 28

For Private Circulation only
Case studies Hard Work Never Fails 29
Think Twice Before Doing Anything
Interview with I Don’t Like to Depend on Anybody 30
Grassroot Activist
For enquiries contact: Books The End of Povert - Economic Possibilities 31
AKSHARA Network for Development for Our Time
Support Services, Story Friendship Forever 32
HIG II B-25 F-6, APHB Colony,
Trends Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 33
Baghlingampally, Hyderabad - 500044

Mobile: 09951819345 The Contrasts Soda Stop 34

www.aksharakriti.org Shoe Polish
[email protected] ‘Yoga’kshemam 35

livelihoods June 2011 3

 Response

Received ‘livelihoods’ May 2011. Thank you very much…

JIJITH KUMAR N G
Zonal Co-ordinator FSP - South
SOS Children's Villages of India,

Thank you very much. Received ‘livelihoods’ May 2011. I t is very interesting.
Dolon Kumar
West Bengal

Six young men and women (five of them just crossed 18 and one of them will Youth Lens
cross 18 soon) spent a month at Akshara and tried to understand and Young men and women:
1. N Aditheswar Reddy
appreciate poverty and livelihoods of the poor. Across three spectrums -
2. G Madhu Vamsi
rural, tribal and urban. They have been to locations. They have talked to the
3. R Manikanta
poor. They have visited the projects and organizations. They have searched 4. S Sarath Chandra
the internet. They have formed their opinions. This edition - Youth Lens - is 5. T Swetha
theirs. We have been mere facilitators, integrators and edit overseers. Hope 6. E Varun Reddy
you enjoy seeing through Youth Lens.

June 12
World Day
Against
Child Labour

4 June 2011 livelihoods

 News
India Does First Urban Poverty holds 37 per cent of people in India Already 297.45 lakh gunny bags have
Survey: New Delhi, A meeting of below the poverty line, an increase of been placed at the disposal of the
chief secretaries and rural and urban 10 per cent. After the severe criticism paddy purchase centers. More
housing secretaries has been called of the draft legislation on the right to gunnies are in the pipeline and there
to discuss the ‘modus operandi’ of the food, the Planning Commission was is no dearth of gunnies for procuring
survey and gear up the official asked by the EGoM to specify how the paddy offered by farmers at the
machinery. The union cabinet had many in India were poor. The MSP, the release said. The farmers
approved BPL census in urban and Commission had a choice to either can offer their paddy at the purchase
rural areas along with the caste accept or reject the report of the centers to obtain the MSP of Rs 1030
census. The Planning Commission Tendulkar committee. India has a new per quintal for Grade A and Rs 1000
had constituted an expert group under way of defining poverty which is not per quintal for common variety. The
S.R. Hashim in May 2010 to based on just access to food, but also government agencies would purchase
recommend detailed methodology for includes expenditure on health and the paddy offered at the purchase
identification of BPL families in urban education. The Tendulkar report will centers at MSP. The farmers need not
areas in the context of the 12th Five seriously impact the architecture of resort to distress sale of paddy, it
Year Plan. The expert group the right to food bill. But activists on said. In case of any problem or any
submitted an interim report June the ground are already calling it an clarification or information, they may
month recommending that poverty in underestimation of poverty. Two other contact the Joint Collectors/ District
urban areas be identified through reports had pegged poverty at higher Supply Officers or the Managing
identification of specific vulnerabilities levels. The Arjun Sengupta report had Director of Andhra Pradesh State Civil
in residential, occupational and social said 77 per cent of Indians live on less Supplies Corporation Limited, the
categories. It said that those who are than Rs 20 a day while the N C release added.
houseless, live in temporary houses Saxena Committee report had said 50
Microfinance summit for steps to
where usage of dwelling space is per cent of people live below poverty.
check exploitation of poor: Meet to
susceptible to insecurity of tenure and However, the Tendulkar report with a
have sessions on themes related to
is affected by lack of access to basic figure of at 37 per cent, is perhaps
microfinance, issues and challenges
services should be considered more acceptable to the government.
and way forward for inclusive
residentially vulnerable. Houses with 12 Lakh Tones Paddy Purchased development Worried over the trend
people unemployed for a significant By AP Govt. from Farmers: Andhra of commercialization of microfinance
proportion of time or with irregular Pradesh government has so far services originally envisaged as an
employment or whose work is subject purchased about 12 lakh tonne of important strategy to address poverty,
to unsanitary or hazardous conditions paddy during the current rabi season. an international summit on
or have no stability of payment for With a view to ensuring MSP for microfinance to be held at Hyderabad
services should be regarded paddy, the government agencies have and will analyze the reasons and
occupationally vulnerable. opened 1,385 purchase centres, 1217 explore ways to bring the sector back
Households headed by women or by the Andhra Pradesh State Civil on to the track. Giving the details,
minors or where the elderly are Supplies Corporation and IKP and Minister for Women Development and
dependent on the head of household 168 centres by the Food Corporation Child Welfare and Indira Kranthi
or where the level of literacy is low or India (FCI). So far during this rabi Patham (IKP) told reporters that the
members are disabled or chronically ill season (as on 1.6.2011), a quantity of three-day fourth international summit
should be considered socially 11,89,788 tonne of paddy has been ‘International Alternative Summit on
vulnerable, it said. The expert group is purchased by the state agencies Microfinance and Inclusive
yet to finalize the detailed compared to 2,38,287 tonne procured Development' will have ‘Microfinance
methodology for an ordinal ranking of on the corresponding day last year, an and Inclusive Development' as its
the poor on the basis of vulnerability. official release said. Similarly, the FCI main theme. It was organized by
37% are Live Below Poverty Line: has also procured 1,74,352 tonne of Society for Elimination of Rural
New Delhi, Uncertainty over the paddy during this rabi season Poverty (SERP), AP Government in
number of people who will benefit compared to 1,11,221 tonne of paddy association with the National Rural
from the proposed food security law procured on the corresponding day Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) of
has been lifted. The Planning last year. All the arrangements have Central Government and International
Commission has accepted the been made to procure the paddy Network of Alternative Financial
Tendulkar Committee report which throughout the season at the MSP. Institutions (INAFI).

livelihoods June 2011 5

 A Village on the National Highway, Gundrampally
The history of the armed struggle waged by peasants in Telangana region against the draconian rule of the Nizam is
incomplete without the mention of Gundrampally village in Chityal mandal in Nalgonda district.
The 11-foot red memorial constructed by the side of the National Highway No.9 at Gundrampally, 60 km from
Hyderabad, remains a symbol of the sacrifice of some 20 villagers who were brutally massacred by Razakars led by
Syed Maqbool (locals call him "Saidu Mogul'').
In retaliation to the killing of his wife and his gang members by the Communist party dalams, Maqbool's armed teams
picked up 20 people from various places and shot them dead on one day in July 1948. The martyrs' were dumped in the
well here,'' Bodige Buchhaiah, a witness to the the Razakars' atrocities said.
Four members of a family - Pisati Nagaiah, Ramachandraiah, Lachhaiah and Papaiah--were among the victims. In
memory of the martyrs, the youngsters in the village constructed the memorial on the well with the donations collected
from communist sympathizers.
Gundrampally has 1250 families (population is 30,383). It has risen from 400 families in two decades. As it is on NH-9
highway and the roads being laid, the real estate business is booming. Different religions and castes live in harmony.
Temples such as Laxmi Devamma, Maramma and Cheruvu gattu are an added attraction. Laxmi Devamma temple is
one of the biggest in the region which was built by Gouds in 1970’s. Every third year, a big festival takes place marking
the marriage of Goddess Laxmi Devamma. In this village, important Hindu festivals like Dussehra, Deepavali etc. A
Church and a Mosque are also present. However, the main diety of the village is Ramalingeswara with temple in the
heart of the village and an alternative temple on the neighbouring hill. Annual Jatra near the hill attracts thousands of
people.
This village has a Zilla Parishad High School which has classes upto 10th standard. There are 2 private high schools are
also working. A village library is functioning.
Due to accident-free highways and roads, people are making their way to the nearby urban centres such as Nalgonda
and Hyderabad to carry on their jobs. Due to 16-hours transport system, the villagers make frequent visits to these
places to learn more about their respective livelihood. A responsible father says that, he is able to send his children for
higher studies in Hyderabad only because of this guaranteed transport system. The cultivated crops are sent to these
places to sell and earn better profits.
Weaving, Agriculture, Horticulture, Dairy, Toddy tapping, Driving, Fishing, Pottery, Masonry and Wage labour are
important livelihoods. The village has functioning dairy, primary agriculture and wool cooperatives. More than 50 SHGs
and their federation is functioning. 4 youth associations and several caste panchayats are functional. The village has a
rice mill, saw mill and brick factory. A grameen bank is situated in the village. Several kirana stores, pan shops, 3-4 tea
stalls and 2 dhabhas are functioning and a petrol bunk has come up recently. However, there is no licensed wine shop.
Of late, the power supply has improved and the power is available most of the time. Fluoride-contamination has been a
big problem and there are efforts to address the same.
Different governmental schemes such as Arogyasri, 108 service, 100 days work, pension for elder citizens etc., are
being accessed. These schemes are helping the householders to lead a better living. The closest tourism destination to
Gundrampally is Nalgonda. Other close by tourism destinations include Hyderabad, Nagarjunakonda and
Nagarjunasagar. The nearest major railway station to Gundrampally is Nalgonda (NLDA) which is at a distance of 19.7
kilometers. The nearest airport is at Hyderabad which is at a distance of 60 kilometers.

June 5
World
Environment Day
6 June 2011 livelihoods
 Legend

Mother Theresa – Angel of Mercy

As the founder of the missionaries of At mid night on 16
August Mother Theresa
charity in Calcutta, India Mother
left loreto with only a
Theresa is the epitome of ticket to Patna and just
compassion and love. Mother Theresa Rs.5 for the
helped the poor, homeless, crippled, expenditure. In Patna
she worked in the holy
diseased, sick, orphaned, and dying family hospital and
children and people. She infirm by gained some medical
providing them with a home to knowledge. She returned
stay in. She opened all the orphanages from Patna and formed
new rules of her
all around the world and did most of “missionary of charity” in
her work in Calcutta helping poor in Kolkatta. As per the rules
the slums. She dedicated her life to of missionaries of charity
others and as a result, she became a the nuns who would join
the order, would live, dress, and eat like the poorest of the
world wide symbol of love, faith, poor. They would have to take utmost care for the poor
strength, and hope. people. Mother Theresa went to the slums and the streets
of Kolkatta, to talk with the poor, and to help them. She
Mother Theresa was born in the year 1910 in Skopje, helped them wash the babies, to clean the wounds. The
Macedonia. Mother Theresa’ S original name was poor people were astonished at the European lady was
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Her father’s sudden death helping them. She began to teach the poor children how to
when Gonxha was about eight years old left in the read and write, how to wash, and how to have some
family in financial straits. Drane raised her children hygiene. Her first residence cum-office of missionaries of
firmly and lovingly, greatly influencing her daughter’s charity was a small room on the first floor of little sister’s of
character and vocation. Gonxha’s religious formation the poor’s institution in Kolkatta.
was further assisted by the vibrant Jesuit parish of In 1982 at the height of the siege, in Beirut she convinced
the sacred heart in which she was much involved. the parties to stop the war so she could rescue 37 sick
At the age of 12, Mother Theresa decided that she children trapped inside. Mother Theresa went all over the
wanted to be a missionary and spread the love +- of world to help the people, rescue children, advice her
Christ. At the age of 18 she left her parental home in sisters to organize and to talk. Her sisters are present in
Skopje and joined the sisters of lorento, an Irish every continent serving the poor and lost. Soon Mother
community of nuns with missions of India. There she Theresa became a symbol of unity, and untiring
received the name Sister Mary Theresa after St. commitment to the poor and suffering.
Therese of lisieux. After a few months of training Mother Theresa’s missionaries’ spreads to 570 missions
at the institute of the blessed by Virgin Mary in across the world. Comprising of 4000 nuns, a brotherhood
Dublin Mother Theresa came to India on 6 January of 300 members and over 100,000 lay volunteers
1929. operating homes for AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis
On 24 May 1931, Theresa took her initial vows as a patients, soup kitchens, children's and their family
nun. From 1931 to 1948, Mother Theresa taught counseling programs, orphanages, and schools. In this
geography and catechism at St. Mary’s high school in way mother Theresa she helped many poor families and
Calcutta. On 24 May 1937, Sister Theresa made her children. By 1992 her health did not permit her to cope
final profession of vows, becoming as she said, the “ with the increasing work. She was prepared to hand over
spouse of jesus” for all eternity. From that time the responsibility but she was re-selected as the superior
onwards she was called as mother Theresa. She general. But in 1996 she suffered a heart-attack and she
continued teaching at St.Mary’s and in the year expressed her will not to continue. On 13 March 1997, the
1944 she became the school’s principal. assembly of sisters elected sister Nirmala to continue the
work that mother Theresa had started. And on 5
On 10 September 1946, on a train journey, Theresa got September 1997 around 9:30 mother Theresa passed
what she terms as a “ call within a call” . she felt she away.
heard the call of god to leave the convent and help
the poor while living amongst them. She discussed ‘Blessed’ Mother Theresa was often referred to as the
this call with a father, Van Exem. And she had to wait to “most powerful woman in the world”. Her faith in God and
get permission from the Archbishop, her mother superior her sincerity in serving him through the poor showed the
and the pope to leave the loretto sisters but still a world beauty of love. She received prestigious Nobel Prize
part of roman catholic church. She finally received (1979) for her service to the poor. She was decorated with
permission in August 1948 to leave loreto order. the highest civilian award of India, Bharat Ratna (19080)
(she is the only naturalized Indian citizen to receive it).

livelihoods June 2011 7

 Kshetram

Tribal Village - Sadarampenta

Sadarampenta is a Tribal village which is located in
Nalamalla forest at Atmakur in Kurnool District. In this
village, Chenchu community (primitive tribal group) is
living. In this village there are 68 houses. Among them,
mostly are huts and some are government houses.
Their interest is to live in the forest belt and hill areas
which are very far away to the other villages. They are
interested to live in small huts only. There are also
some SCs living in the village. However, 90% of the
village is inhabited by Chechus. All the Chenchu
families have BPL cards and ration cards etc.
There is a population of about 388 (adult males are
178, adult females are 139, children of below 5 years
are of 48 and 5 – 15 years are 23). The crops
cultivated in the village include Wheat, Paddy and
sunflower. After harvesting they store some quantity
and sell the rest of the grains in the market.
Government supplies seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.
Earlier, the Government has given 5 acres of land to
each family on an average. For drinking purposes,
they have a bore well in the village. Further, water from and earn money to fulfil their needs. Middlemen/Mediators
bores and bore wells and rain water irrigates their lands. take this opportunity by giving less money to them for their
Only 10% in the village have cattle in their houses. own gain.
Forest department takes their services by appointing Everyday in the morning before going to the forest, they
certain Chenchu people for Forest protection. drink alcohol and they eat something. In the forest, they
hunt some animals and bring them home to feed their
They are not showing any interest for the education of their
family members. They return back by 5 pm in the evening.
children. They take their Children to the Forest along with
After returning home again, they take alcohol. They are
them. 6 years ago, for the education of the Tribal children,
easily irritable and fight among themselves for their silly
Government established Girijana Ashram School (upper
reasons.
primary school - up to Class 7) in the village. There are 78
children from this village and neighbouring villages in this The village is connected with an all weather road but the
school. For the children below 5 years, Government transport is mainly through the auto services. There are no
established Anganwadi centre with two staff. They take drainage systems in the village.
care of the children. They teach songs, rhymes, games
Some of the men wear pants/shorts and shirts. Some wear
and good habits to children. Government is also providing
lungi/dhoti and shirt. Women wear sari and blouse.
Mid-day meal to all the children. Weekly once, there is a
Nowadays, they are using cell phone/mobile, television,
special meal that includes one egg, banana, and sweet.
DVD player etc. Daily, the electricity supply is available
There are no hospitals in the village. For any treatment or only for six hours. To charge the electronic gadgets, solar
emergency, the people have to go about 15 km to hospital. energy is being used.
The Field multipurpose Health Assistant is visiting the
All the people are responsible to one headman. For all
village and conducting Health camps.
their problems, the people approach him. Marriages are
Daily the people go to forest to collect products like Honey, mostly within the village. They are not showing interest to
Fruits, Gum, Timber, Bamboo, Firewood and some spices give their daughters in marriage to other villages. Child
for health purpose. They sell their products in the market marriages have come down.

Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you,

following you right on up until you die. ~Paul Simon
June 21 World Music day.
8 June 2011 livelihoods
 Let Us Know and Be With Them!
Happy Fathers’ Day! Happy Rains! Monsoon is still or more rooms with all rooms having pucca walls and pucca
finding its way. May Dr Raj Arole, extraordinary health roof; Owning Refrigerator; Owning landline phones; owning
worker of the world, rest in peace! 2.5 acres or more irrigated land with at least one irrigation
equipment; 5 acres or more land irrigated for two or more
Some stirrings for World Environment Day (5 June) and crop seasons; Or owning 7.5 acres or more land with at
Fathers’ Day (19 June)! Many International Days just least one irrigation equipment)
passed by – for instance - World Day Against Child Labour
(12 June), World Day to Combat Desertification and Second, a set of households are compulsorily INCLUDED
Drought (17 June), and UN Public Service Day (23 June). (Automatic Inclusion Criteria include Households without
We await Doctors’ Day, International Cooperative Day, shelter; Destitutes/living on alms; Manual scavengers;
Writers’ Day and World Population Day. Primitive Tribal Groups; Legally released bonded labourers.
Are we missing out on the remotest/inhospitable locations
Kristina’s ‘A Farewell Ode: Missing Kabul’ (an e-mail) has in the automatic inclusion criteria?); and
been an inspiration for me this month – “ ….. I remember
depressing nights when I remember ladies we have Third, remaining households are RANKED as per the
interviewed from various districts who said that they loved number of deprivation indicators (these include -
to continue their studies but their fathers won't let them …. Households with only one room with kucha walls and kucha
There were stories of … hitting women who went out alone roof; Households with no adult member between age 16 to
or without a burqa. ….I remember families sharing stories 59; Female headed households with no adult male member
on how their brothers, fathers, sisters, or husbands, have between age 16 to 59; Households with any disabled
been wounded or even killed … I remember sleepless member and no able bodied adult member; SC/ST
nights thinking children being in such a hostile environment households; Households with no literate adult above 25
at such a young age. I stopped re- years; and Landless households deriving the major part of
watching "the kite runner" for it literally their income from manual casual labour).
tears my heart. How can I forget teenagers Perspectives This data would be approved by Gram
sharing with us cucumber yogurts by the Sabha. One question arises if there is a
river and all they wanted was to have a G Muralidhar conflict, in case of a conflict between
decent job to support their living. exclusion criteria and inclusion criteria. Is
… I expected something worse in a war-torn place. But I the exclusion first? Or the inclusion first? Next question is
was so wrong! The wonderful gardens still amaze me up to related to State-wise Poverty Cap. How are the Caps
this day! The people are also exhausted from their calculated? In the process, are we not excluding or
suffering. … they found ways to survive and move on. … including the real poor or non-poor? To achieve the cut-off
The adventure, the sadness behind the veils, the apples cap, the panchayats with lower SC/ST population (%) are
and the peaches, the landmines, the cassette tapes, the excluded till we reach the cut-off. Finally, Government’s
empty bullet shells, the ISAF tanks, the kebabs and priority is first the automatically included, followed by the
yogurts, the bombings, the shepherd and the flock of households with higher deprivation score (7 to 0, in that
sheep, lapis lazulis --- they all made me think “be the order). Final question – does this census bring all the poor
change you wish to see in the world.” Thank you Gandhi for into the fold? We still need to see how this process is more
always reminding me this…. fool-proof than earlier exercises.
I know that I cannot fully understand the complexities of Food Security Act is still in the offing. Apart from offering
what the afghan people are going through but deep within ration at low price, the need is to comprehensively
me there lies the longing to be back. I believe one day, I will transform the external input based green revolution
be back. … Allah Hafez. :-) agriculture into flexible sustainable regenerative agriculture
system/mosaic with minimal external inputs including
The streams of thought and work that dominated the month energy and water, for local consumption. Even now, when
include institutions, livelihoods, vulnerable, convergence the poor spend 30-60% on having adequate food and
and workers. nutrition, the strain is palpable with food price inflation.
Finally the poverty-based census has been launched in There is a case for treating food differently in the market
Tripura nationally. The approved methodology - The rural place. Government regulation may have to continue. It
households would be classified in three steps – needs to build up stocks. Storage needs to be better. Local
value addition and catering to local markets has to be
First, a set of Households are EXCLUDED (even if one of pursued. Collectivization of the small producers and
the automatic exclusion criteria satisfied. These criteria consumers and linkages between them have to be pursued.
include Motorized Two/Three/Four Wheelers/Fishing boats;
Mechanized Three/ Four wheeler agricultural equipment Let us know who the poor are. Let us know that they spend
such as tractors, harvesters etc.; Kisan Credit Card with the half their money on food. Let us secure it. Let us love them.
credit limit of Rs.50,000 and above; Households with any Let us learn and love to work with them, their true
member as Government Employee: Households with non- institutions and the institutions that support them.
agricultural enterprise registered with the Government; Any
member in the family earning more than Rs. 10,000 per Let us be with them in their movement to be out of poverty
month; Paying income tax or professional tax; Owning three for good.

livelihoods June 2011 9

 Cover Story

Youth Lens...
On Poverty

Poverty is a state where one lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.
Absolute poverty refers to being unable to afford basic human needs, such as clean and
safe water, nutritious food, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion
people in the world are estimated to live in absolute poverty today. Relative poverty refers
to the lacking a usual or socially acceptable level of resources or income as compared
with others within a society or country.

Historically, it has been argued that traditional modes of production were insufficient to
give an entire population a comfortable standard of living. After the industrial revolution,
mass production in factories made wealth increasingly more inexpensive and accessible.
Of more importance is the modernization of agriculture, such as use of fertilizers, in
order to provide enough yields to feed the population. Additionally, it is important to note
that three quarters of the poor today are farmers.

10 June 2011 livelihoods

Today, poverty reduction is a major goal and issue for highest child malnutrition rate of the world's regions. Nearly
many international and nations organizations such as the half of all Indian children are undernourished, one of the
United Nations and the World Bank. These institutions are highest rates in the world and nearly double the rate of Sub
providing help across the world to combat on poverty. In -Saharan Africa. Every year, more than half a million
India also various programs by the help of World Bank. women die in pregnancy or childbirth. Almost 90% of
maternal deaths occur in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa,
Effects of poverty: The effects of poverty may also be compared to less than 1% in the developed world. Women
causes, thus creating a "poverty cycle" operating across who have born children into poverty may not be able to
multiple levels, individual, local, national and global.
nourish the children efficiently and provide adequate care in
Health: One third of deaths - some 18 million people a infancy. The children may also suffer from disease that has
year or 50,000 per day - are due to poverty-related causes: been passed down to the child through birth. Asthma and
in total 270 million people, most of them women and rickets are common problems children acquire when born
children, have died as a result of poverty since 1990. Those into poverty.
living in poverty suffer disproportionately from hunger or
Housing: Poverty increases the risk of homelessness.
even starvation and disease. Those living in poverty suffer
Slum-dwellers, who make up a third of the world's urban
lower life expectancy. According to the World Health population, live in poverty no better, if not worse, than rural
Organization, hunger and malnutrition are the single people, who are the traditional focus of the poverty in the
gravest threats to the world's public health and malnutritiondeveloping world, according to a report by the United
is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in
Nations. There are over 100 million street children
half of all cases. worldwide. Most of the children living in institutions around
Hunger: Rises in the costs of living make poor people less the world have a surviving parent or close relative, and they
able to afford items. Poor people spend a greater portion of most commonly entered orphanages because of poverty.
Experts and child advocates maintain that orphanages are
expensive and often harm children's development by
separating them from their families. It is speculated that,
flush with money, orphanages are increasing and push for
children to join even though demographic data show that
even the poorest extended families usual children whose
parents have died.
Poverty in India: South Asia is home to the largest number
of poor in the world and disappointingly India accounts for
the largest percentage in poverty of the regions share. India
is a country of continental proportions and poverty is a
multidimensional phenomenon. Sure enough, the dispute
over poverty in India and its causes is compound and
controversial. Questions of poverty in India have engaged a
large number of researchers over the years. But in recent
decades, because difficult measurement issues have
arisen, lopsided amount of attention has been devoted
their budgets on food than rich people. As a result, poor towards the rate of poverty decline. Much less is known
households and those near the poverty threshold can be
about how the rapidly changing economic background has
particularly vulnerable to increases in food prices. For transformed the underlying profile of poverty. This report
example, in late 2007 increases in the price of grains led to seeks for the search of causes and cure of poverty in India.
food riots in some countries. The World Bank warned that According to recent survey, the population below poverty
100 million people were at risk of sinking deeper into
line is sharply decreasing but the poverty remains the
poverty. Threats to the supply of food may also be caused same.
by drought and the water crisis. Intensive farming often
There has been no uniform measure of poverty in India.
leads to a vicious cycle of exhaustion of soil fertility and
decline of agricultural yields. Approximately 40% of the The Planning Commission of India has accepted the
Tendulkar Committee report which says that 37% of people
world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. In Africa, if
current trends of soil degradation continue the continentin India live below the poverty line. The Arjun Sengupta
might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025,Report (from National Commission for Enterprises in the
according to UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Unorganised Sector) states that 77% of Indians live on less
than Indian Rupee symbol.svg 20 a day (about $0.50 per
Resources in Africa. Every year nearly 11 million children
day). The N.C. Saxena Committee report states that 50% of
living in poverty die before their fifth birthday. 1.02 billion
People go to bed hungry every night. Indians live below the poverty line. A study by the Oxford
Poverty and Human Development Initiative using a Multi-
According to the Global Hunger Index, South Asia has the dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) found that there were 645

livelihoods June 2011 11

million poor living under the MPI in India, 421 million of population graphs tell us that India would cross China’s
who are concentrated in eight North Indian and East Indian population by 2030.This rapid growth of population
states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya effected the economic background leading to poverty.
Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West
Agrarian form of economy: As food security has become
Bengal. This number is higher than the 410 million poor
more important, mostly due to the explosive population
living in the 26 poorest African nations. The states are
growth during the 20th century, Agrarian form of economy
listed below in increasing order of poverty based on the
resulted in higher food costs and lower food availability to
Multi-dimensional Poverty Index.
the poor.
Impact: Since the 1950s, the Indian government and non-
Primitive agricultural practices: As the population is
governmental organizations have initiated several
sharply increasing more food crops are required and
programs to alleviate poverty, including subsidizing food
more yields are expected. Due to Primitive agricultural
and other necessities, increased access to loans,
practises, the production of food grains became very slow
improving agricultural techniques and price supports, and
and only small amount of food grains are produced which
promoting education and family planning. These measures
is not sufficient for the country’s population and it is forcing
have helped eliminate famines, cut absolute poverty levels
us to import from other countries.
by more than half, and reduced illiteracy and malnutrition.
Presence of a massive parallel economy in the form of Illiteracy: Literacy is the key for socio-economic progress
black (hidden) money stashed in overseas tax havens and for any country and the Indian literacy rate grew to 74.04%
underutilisation of foreign aid have also contributed to the in 2011 from 12% at the end of British rule in 1947.
slow pace of poverty alleviation in India. Although the Although this was a greater than six fold improvement, the
Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%,
decades, its growth has been uneven when comparing and India currently has the largest illiterate population of
different social groups, economic groups, geographic any nation on earth. Even though government has
regions, and rural and urban areas. Between 1999 and organised many programmes to increase the literacy rate,
2008, the annualized growth rates for Gujarat (8.8%), it increased slowly and a 1990 study estimated that it
Haryana (8.7%), or Delhi (7.4%) were much higher than for
Bihar (5.1%), Uttar Pradesh (4.4%), or Madhya Pradesh
(3.5%). Poverty rates in rural Orissa (43%) and rural Bihar
(41%) are among the world's most extreme. Despite
significant economic progress, one quarter of the nation's
population earns less than the government-specified
poverty threshold of 12 rupees per day (approximately US$
0.25).
According to a recently released World Bank report, India
is on track to meet its poverty reduction goals. However by
2015, an estimated 53 million people will still live in
extreme poverty and 23.6% of the population will still live
under US$1.25 per day. This number is expected to
reduce to 20.3% or 268 million people by 2020. However,
at the same time, the effects of the worldwide recession in
2009 have plunged 100 million more Indians into poverty
would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy.
than there were in 2004, increasing the effective poverty
rate from 27.5% to 37.2%.As per the 2001 census, 35.5% Ignorance: Even though India claims to have the world's
of Indian households availed of banking services, 35.1% largest initiative for children under six, Over 6,000 children
owned a radio or transistor, 31.6% a television, 9.1% a under the age of six die in our country everyday from
phone, 43.7% a bicycle, 11.7% a scooter, motorcycle or a hunger and malnutrition .Our country still ranks 94th out of
moped, and 2.5% a car, jeep or van; 34.5% of the 118 countries on the Global Hunger Index. But the reason
households had none of these assets. According to for why our country’s children are dying of hunger is
Department of Telecommunications of India the phone ignorance of the poor.
density has reached 33.23% by December 2008 and has Unemployment: The Unemployment rate in India was last
an annual growth of 40%. These tallies with the fact that a reported at 9.4 percent in 2009/10 fiscal year. India's
family of four with an annual income of 1.37 lakh rupees Unemployment Rate averaged 7.20 percent reaching an
could afford some of these luxury items. historical high of 8.30 percent in December of 1983 and a
Causes for poverty record low of 5.99 percent in December of 1994.Even
though Unemployment rate slightly decreased after 1978, it
High population growth rate: The population of India is
again raised up in the resent years. The Unemployment
rapidly increasing every year. According to a survey 29
rate chart is given below
life’s are added to the population every minute and our

12 June 2011 livelihoods

Underemployment: Underemployment is the case where
desired person will not get desired job of his profession.
Many graduates in our country are working in different
fields which did not match their profession. This pathetic
type of conditions are decreasing the interest of people to
work and hence they are remaining as unemployed.
Caste based politics: The most important issue in India is
caste based politics. Politics play a vital role in the
development of a country. Unfortunately our country’s
politics are playing a crucial role in developing poverty
because of caste based ruling by most of the political
leaders. They look after their own caste and work for their
development and ignore the rest. What about the people
who does not belongs to any of these castes? They are
cared and nurtured by poverty.
Social iniquity: The socio-economic structure of India is National Rural Livelihoods Mission, Skill Building Mission,
Lopsided and bounded to collapse sooner or later. And Rural Self-employment Training Institutes etc., are
some horrific incidents in the recent past signal the contributing their best to reduce poverty. National Food
appearance of cracks in the Indian structure. Security Act is on its way.
Rich Indians not Charity: There are 115,000 individuals Large number of state agencies are adding their mite in
in India with high net-worth. Since 2000, this elite group this effort. Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty,
has grown an average of 11 per cent annually. Between MEPMA, Jeevika, Vazhndu Kattuvom Poject,
2006 and 2007, the number of wealthy individuals in India Kutumbasree, Girijan Cooperative Corporation, National
surged by 23 per cent, which is the highest growth rate in Dairy Development Board, District Rural Development
the world. However, the wealthiest have the lowest level of Agencies, Integrated Tribal Development Agencies/
giving at 1.6% of their household income for charitable Projects, etc., are some examples.
purposes."While the 'high class', which is ranked one level
Collectivisation of the poor and farmers has been a
below the 'upper class' on the income and education scale,
singularly identifiable intervention that seemed to have
donates 2.1% to charity, the middle class gives 1.9% of
worked. Amul model of cooperatives in milk have made a
household income to philanthropy," says Arpan Sheth,
significant difference to the dairy farmers across the
partner, Bain & Company. The percentage of India's GDP
country.
that is spent for charitable purposes is only 0.6 where the
percentage is 2.2 in the United States. However, it has been broadly established that education is
the only permanent route for reducing poverty ona
Efforts to Eradicate Poverty: Since the early 1950s,
sustainable basis. The country is inching forward on this
govt has initiated, sustained, and refined various planning
front. Further, the schemes have however not been very
schemes to help the poor attain self sufficiency in food
successful because the rate of poverty reduction lags
production. Probably the most important initiative has been
behind the rapid population growth rate.
the supply of basic commodities, particularly food at
controlled prices, available throughout the country as poor Various NGOs working against Poverty: Many (millions
spend about 80 percent of their income on food. The 100 of them) NGOs are working since years working against
days of work to every family that needs work through Poverty. Social Entrepreneurs and their social enterprises
Mahatma Gandhi are adding their mite to dent into reducing some dimension
National Rural of the poverty. The significant ones may be a mere 1% of
employment them. Their reach is still limited.
Guarantee
PRADAN, DHAN, BASIX, MYRADA, Outreach, FES,
Scheme, the
SEWA, BAIF, RGMVP, Sargam Sanstha, Lepra Society,
watershed
Udaan, Deepalaya, Uday Foundation, Karmayog, Pratham,
development
Hunger Project etc., are some examples of large NGOs.
program, SHG
World Bank, UNDP, DFID, GTZ, Ford Foundation, Action
movement to
Aid, Oxfam etc., are some of the donors.
mobilise millions
of poor women in Reduction in Poverty: Despite all the causes, India
to Self-help currently adds 40 million people to its middle class every
Groups and year.[citation needed] Analysts such as the founder of
access financial "Forecasting International", Marvin J. Cetron writes that an
capital to fight estimated 300 million Indians now belong to the middle
their poverty, class; one-third of them have emerged from poverty in the

livelihoods June 2011 13

last ten years. At the current rate of growth, a majority of in the
Indians will be middle-class by 2025.Despite government Unorganised
initiatives; corporate social responsibility (CSR) remains low Sector
on the agenda of corporate sector. Only 10 percent of (NCEUS)
funding comes from individuals and corporate, and "a large found that 77%
part of CSR initiatives are artfully masqueraded and make it of Indians, or
back to the balance sheet". The widening income gap 836 million
between the rich and the poor over the years has raised people, lived
fears of a social backlash. on less than 20
rupees per day
Controversy over extent of poverty reduction: The
(USD 0.50
definition of poverty in India has been called into question
nominal, USD
by the UN World Food Programme. In its report on global
2.0 in PPP),
hunger index, it questioned the government of India's
with most
definition of poverty saying: The fact that calorie deprivation
working in
is increasing during a period when the proportion of rural
"informal
population below the poverty line is said to be declining
labour sector
rapidly, highlights the increasing disconnect between official
with no job or
poverty estimates and calorie deprivation. While total
social security,
overall poverty in India has declined, the extent of poverty
living in abject
reduction is often debated. While there is a consensus that
poverty.
there has not been increase in poverty between 1993–94
and 2004–05, the picture is not so clear if one considers However, a new report from the UN disputes this, finding
other non-pecuniary dimensions (such as health, education, that the number of people living on US$1.25 a day is
crime and access to infrastructure). With the rapid expected to go down from 435 million or 51.3 percent in
economic growth that India is experiencing, it is likely that a 1990 to 295 million or 23.6 percent by 2015 and 268 million
significant fraction of the rural population will continue to or 20.3 percent by 2020.A study by the McKinsey Global
migrate toward cities, making the issue of urban poverty Institute found that in 1985, 93% of the Indian population
more significant in the long run. Some, like journalist P lived on a household income of less than 90,000 rupees a
Sainath, hold the view that while absolute poverty may not year, or about a dollar per person per day; by 2005 that
have increased, India remains at a abysmal rank in the UN proportion had been cut nearly in half, to 54%. More than
Human Development Index. 103 million people have moved out of desperate poverty in
the course of one generation in urban and rural areas as
India is positioned at 132nd place in the 2007-08 UN HDI
well. They project that if India can achieve 7.3% annual
index. It is the lowest rank for the country in over 10 years.
growth over the next 20 years, 465 million more people will
In 1992, India was at 122nd place in the same index. It can
be lifted out of poverty. Contrary to popular perceptions,
even be argued that the situation has become worse on
rural India has benefited from this growth: extreme rural
critical indicators of overall well-being such as the number
poverty has declined from 94% in 1985 to 61% in 2005, and
of people who are undernourished (India has the highest
they project that it will drop to 26% by 2025. Report
number of malnourished people, at 230 million, and is 94th
concludes that India's economic reforms and the increased
of 119 in the world hunger index), and the number of
growth that has resulted have been the most successful
malnourished children (43% of India's children under 5 are
anti-poverty programmes in the country.
underweight (BMI<18.5), the highest in the world) as of
2008.Economist Pravin Visaria has defended the validity of Conclusion: Poverty is a very important constriction for the
many of the statistics that demonstrated the reduction in development of a democratic country like India. However,
overall poverty in India, as well as the declaration made by we have a ray of hope. In reducing this, youth has an
India's former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha that important role to play. A collaboration of youth with their
poverty in India has reduced significantly. He insisted that intelligent minds can make a big difference in eradicating
the 1999-2000 survey was well designed and supervised poverty. Recently, large numbers of young minds of India
and felt that just because they did not appear to fit are taking steps. Basic pre-requisite for long-term poverty
preconceived notions about poverty in India, they should eradication is ‘EDUCATION’. One’s education can not only
not be dismissed outright. Nicholas Stern, vice president of pave a road to his poverty eradication but also the ones
the World Bank, has published defences of the poverty who are dependent on him.
reduction statistics. He argues that increasing globalization
Proper health, reduction in hunger and knowledge about
and investment opportunities have contributed significantly
their recent developments in their livelihood are other
to the reduction of poverty in the country. India, together
important pre-requisites. Poverty can be eradicated with
with China, has shown the clearest trends of globalization
strong desire and constant pursuit. Actions have begun.
with the accelerated rise in per-capita income. A 2007
Certainly, poverty can be eradicated by the youth, if they
report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises
wish and push.

14 June 2011 livelihoods

 Enterprise

‘Ganesh Idols’ Making

Pemar Milalal, a Rajastani artisan living at Kukatpally has been preparing Ganesh idols in Hyderabad since 20
years. His family consists of 20 members and all of them are involved in making of Ganesh idols. For the prepara-
tion of these idols, the required materials include plaster of Paris, wooden sticks, dry grass and colours. All these
materials are purchased from Rajastan and Kerala. Pemar invests around 200000 for one season. 50 idols are
produced every month and totally 150 idols are produced by the end of August.
Two to three months prior to Ganesh Chaturthi, artistic clay models of Lord Ganesha are made for sale by specially
skilled artisans as Ganesh Chaturthi starts with the installation of these Ganesh statues in colorfully decorated
homes and specially erected temporary structures mandapas (pandals) in every locality. We can find these artisans
near the premises of Hyderabad preparing Ganesh idols in the season of late summer i.e.., June- September. Ra-
jastan is the well known place for these artisans.
The cost of these idols range from 500 - 10000 depending upon the size and height of the idol. The number of idols
to be produced depends upon the orders. The size of these idols may vary from 3/4 of an inch to over 25 feet. By
the end of August, all the idols are sold and he gets a profit of 140000, which is sufficient for his family needs
throughout the year. Below table indicates the prices of idols depending on their sizes:

Monthly Expenditure

Material Quantity Details Price

Plaster of paris 5 bags(125kgs)X 30 1 bag – Rs.80 Rs.12000

days 5bags – 80x5 X 30
Wooden Sticks 10 bundles X 30 days 1 bundle-Rs.20 Rs.6000
10 bundles-10x20 X30
Dry Grass 5 kg X 30 days 1 kg-Rs.5 Rs.750
5 kg-5x5 X 30
Colours 15 liters X 30 days 1 lit-Rs.35 Rs.15750
15 lit-35x15 X 30
Total-Rs.34500

Expenditure (Monthly)– Total -Rs.34500

Monthly Income
Size(in feet) Units Details Price
2 20 1 unit-Rs.120 Rs.2400
20 units-120X20
4 20 1 unit-Rs.450 Rs.9000
20 units-450X20
6 5 1 unit-Rs.1100 Rs.5500
5 units-1100X5
8 3 1 unit-Rs.2500 7500
3 units-Rs.2500X3
11 2 1 unit-Rs.12000 24000
2 unit-12000X2
Total-Rs.48400
Total income Rs.48400– Total expenditure Rs 34500
Total monthly profit (Per month)-Rs.13900

Pemar Milal finally says that the making of Ganesh idols is their only livelihood and he is very much satisfied with
this livelihood.

livelihoods June 2011 15

 Interview with Common Person

Work Hard and Earn...

Ashok’s native place was Bhidar in A: We keep some of the
Karnataka. But now he lives at Chadarghat harvested paddy for home
purpose. We sell the remaining
near Lingampally in Hyderabad. He came to
crop at the markets.
Hyderabad to work in a wholesale shop.
‘Livelihoods’ interviewed Ashok to know Q: Where do you sell paddy?
about his life. A: We sell them to the
businessmen who visit the
Q: What is your name? What is your age?
villages.
A: I am Ashok; I am 22 years old.
Q: Do you have the
Q: What is your native village? agricultural equipments?
A: My village’s name is Bhidar in Karnataka. But now we A: Yes we have all types of
are staying at Chadarghat near Lingampally. agriculture related equipments:
Q: How many members are there in your family living with plough, bullock-cart, and
you? tractor.

A: My wife, two children, and brother live with me. Q: How many acres of land do you currently have?

Q: How far did you study? A: We have 5 acres of land at the moment.

A: I studied up to 5th class. Q: How did you earn these assets?

Q: What are your children studying? A: From the beginning, we didn’t employ any labourers in
agriculture. We do our work. Whatever we earn goes
A: My elder son is studying in 7th class and my second son straight for our family.
is studying in 2nd class.
Q: Did you purchase anything recently for agriculture?
Q: Which school they are studying in?
A: We have a plough and bullock-cart.
A: They study in a private school.
Q: How much income do you earn per a year in
Q: What is the name of that school? agriculture?
A: Its name is Sri Vani High School. A: We earn Rs 2 lakh per year.
Q: When did you come to Hyderabad? Q: What is your business here?
A: I came to Hyderabad when I was 20 years old. A: I maintain a shop in Hyderabad.
Q: What was the status of your family before coming to Q: How much do u earn in your business?
Hyderabad?
A: I usually get around Rs 15,000 per month in this
A: We had 20 acres of land at that time. We all worked for business.
daily wages and for family survival. We have ploughed and
also bought tractor. We spent our income on household Q: Can you comment on your children education?
needs and children’s’ education. We saved the rest A: Our children should not be like us; they should have
Q: Do you have any other occupation other than labour stable lives. We are gearing them up for medicinal and
work? engineering courses.

A: We have 10 acres of land where we cultivate paddy. Q: How much amount do you save per year?
Paddy is grown on 8 acres, and the rest of the land is A: We save Rs 40,000 per year.
utilized for growing fruits and vegetables. We also have 4
Q: Do you give any suggestions for others?
goats and 10 sheep.
A: Whenever we earn money, we should have the motive
Q: Who has been taking care of the family earnings?
of saving it. This is because if you earn money by hard
A: My brother and I have been taking car of it so far. work, it will be everlasting. The money which we get
Q: Do you have water sources for your land? without hard work would never stay with us. So, work hard
and earn what ever money you can. If you do this
A: Yes, we have a water source for it. everyday, you will do well in life. It’s very important to
Q: What do you do the entire cultivated paddy? realize the value of money when we’re working for it.

16 June 2011 livelihoods

 Subsector

Courses After (10+2)

Courses after 12th are the most sought after and very (IPCC) to become “Chartered Accountant”.
difficult to choose. There are many different, various (iv) They should successfully complete 9 months of study
courses after 12th like graduation, professional certificate, course from the date of IPCC registration.
diploma and degree courses and career options available
to students after 10th, 12th std class for arts, commerce, (v) Should successfully complete Orientation Course of one
science, biology, non medical and computer science stream week spanning 35 hours and covering topics, such as
like short term, part time, job oriented, computer courses, personality development, communication skills, office
animation, fashion design, web designing, film making, procedure, business environment, general commercial
maritime, marine, interiors, architecture, engineering, knowledge, etc., before commencement of articled training.
management, accounts, journalism, mass communication, (vi)Should successfully complete 100 hours Information
media, medical, arts, commerce, science, biology, non Technology Training (ITT) before commencement of
medical, law, finance, hotel management, computer articled training.
science, animation & game design, , graphics designing,
(vii) Appear and pass Group I as well as Group II of
internet security, merchant navy, hair & beauty, film & TV,
Integrated Professional Competence Examination (IPCE).
economics, aviation and tourism courses after 12th,
Group I is composed of four papers and Group II is
diplomas and bachelor degrees like B.A, B.Com, B.Sc,
composed of three papers.
BBA, BMS, BHM, BCA, B.Tech, etc. Here you can explore
a list of top and best careers & new courses after 12th. (viii) Register as Articled Assistant for a period of 3 years,
on passing either Group I or both the Groups of IPCE.
Charted Accountant (CA):
(ix) Register for CA Final Course and prepare for CA Final
Examination.
Under the existing
(x) Undergo General Management and Communication
chartered accountancy
Skills (GMCS) (15 days) course while undergoing Final
scheme of education,
Course and serving the last 12 months of articled training.
training and examination,
the requirements for (xi) Complete 3 years period of articled training.
becoming a chartered
(xii) Appear in the Final Examination on completion of the
accountant are as
practical training or while serving last 6 months of articled
follows:
training on or before the last day of the month proceeding
(i) Enroll with the the month in which the examination is to be held.
Institute for Common Proficiency Test (CPT) after passing
(xiii) Pass final examination and complete GMCS, if not
class 10th examination conducted by an examining body
completed earlier.
constituted by law in India or an examination recognized by
the Central Government as equivalent thereto. (xiv) Enroll as a member of ICAI and designate as
“Chartered Accountant”.
(ii) Appear in CPT after appearing in the senior secondary
examination (10+2 examination) conducted by an Top colleges providing charted accountant courses:-
examining body constituted by law in India or an Bhavan,s Vivekananda college of science ( Andhra
examination recognized by the Central Government as Pradesh)
equivalent thereto and after completion of specified period
(60 days) from the date of registration for CPT with the A.V.S college of arts and science (Tamil Nadu)
Board of Studies as on the first day of the month in which Agarwal Degree college (Haryana)
examination is to be held, viz., students registered on or
Aurora Degree College (Andhra Pradesh)
before 1st April/1st October will be eligible to appear in
June/December examination, as the case may be. Bharatha mata college (Kerala)
However, candidate should pass both CPT and 10+2
These are some of the top colleges which provide CA
before registering for Integrated Professional Competence
course and fees depends on the reputation of the
Course (IPCC).
college .The duration of the course is that after passing the
(iii) Enroll for Group I or Group II or for both Group I and CPT examination, the training will be for 9 months and one
Group II of Integrated Professional Competence Course has to pass Group 1 and Group 2 examination all at once ,

livelihoods June 2011 17

if the person fails in any one of the exam then he/she has to school will purchase study materials, take practice tests,
attend all the exam again. Most of the students take 2 or 3 and perhaps even take an LSAT prep course to get ready
years to pass in groups. It takes a period of maximum for the exam.
three years to pass in groups. After registering to the final
Step-Three: Get accepted to law school. Admission to law
exam one has to undergo a training of six months and
school will be based almost entirely on your college GPA
finally get through this CA examination. Accounting
and your LSAT score, and many law schools have
professionals have a distinct future. Some of the services
minimum scores you must reach on each before they will
provided are in the nature of attest function and others
even consider your application.
pertain to management consultancy. Increasing competition
has put pressure on the industry and, therefore, there are Step-Four: Graduate from law school. It takes a minimum of
expectations of high quality of service from the three years to graduate from a full-time law school program;
professionals, maintaining at the same time their level of longer if you attend a program that has a part-time option.
integrity and the excellence and independence. Law school exams are almost always essay questions, and
to do well you have to learn the formula for writing a law
The profession faces competition not only from within the
school essay. It is not enough to know the information; you
sector but also service providers of other areas. Structure
have to know the proper format for spitting it back out to the
of the accounting profession is dominated by small and
professor who is scanning your answer for the key words
medium size practitioners. They intrinsically have their
and phrases. The students who figure out the system early
organizational, operational and financial limitations as
are the ones who will be on law review.
compared to non-SMPs. It has become essential to
strengthen SMPs to enable them to comprehensively Step-Five: Study for the BAR exam. Most law school
strengthen SMPs to enable them to comprehensively graduates will take a BAR review course to organize their
address a wide variety of professional service requirement test preparation and to make sure they cover everything
and expand their areas of practice functionally and they need to know. After all the time and money you have
geographically. invested in your legal education to this point, investing in a
BAR review course is a small price to pay for passing the
Bachelor of Law:
BAR on your first attempt.
Seven Steps to Launch Your Legal Career:
Step-Six: Pass the BAR exam for the state in which you
A common career-day question asked by students is, “how want to practice law. The testing protocols and
do I become a lawyer?” Becoming a lawyer is not easy. It requirements vary from state to state, but most states utilize
will take a minimum of exam materials provided by the National Council of BAR
four years of college Examiners. The required tests may include the Multistate
and three years of law Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), the
school before you are Multistate BAR Examination (MBE), the Multistate Essay
even allowed to take Examination (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test
the test that decides (MPT).
whether you are
Step-Seven: Pass the Character and Fitness evaluation.
allowed to practice law
Those who think lawyers have no ethics may be surprised
– and sometimes even
that applicants to the BAR in most states must submit to a
that is not enough. The
Character and Fitness Investigation, usually conducted by
process of becoming a
the National Council of Bar Examiners. This investigation is
lawyer can be broken down into seven steps.
extensive and intrusive, delving not only into whether you
Step-One: Obtain a bachelor’s degree from a college or have a criminal record, but also looking at traffic tickets,
university. This needs to be a four-year degree; an credit reports, substance abuse issues, and even medical
associate’s degree is not sufficient for admission into law records. The evaluation may be unpleasant to some, but it
school. Your particular choice of major does not matter is a necessary step in order to practice law.
much, at least not for purposes of getting into law school.
Once you complete these seven steps, you are ready to
However, your GPA (Grade Point Average) in school is
launch your legal career!
extremely important in determining whether you will get to
move on to a law school. Top five colleges in India:

Step-Two: Take the Law School Admissions Test, better NALSAR University of Law Justice City, Shameerpet
known as the LSAT. This is a test that is similar to exams National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal
such as the ACT or SAT, but this particular test is geared
towards evaluating your potential to perform well in law National Law University, Jodhpur
school. This half-day test contains multiple choice Campus Law Centre, Delhi University
questions as well as essay questions. This test is critically
NUJS, Kolkata.
important, and most people serious about going to law

18 June 2011 livelihoods

 The duration of the course is five years i.e. B.A, L.L.B or every year. Selection is
BBA L.L.B. The fees per annum is about 1,00,000 to made through three
2,00,000. Which depend on the college. There will be both steps i.e. Written Test
private and government lawyers. Government lawyers of 900 marks based on
receives salary from the government, so they are govt. +2 CBSE science
workers but the private lawyers receives their income from syllabus and
the public and do not have a standard income. Their combination of other
income depends on the case they take up and result of the subjects, secondly
case. those who will qualify
NDA will call for SSB, after that Medical Fitness test. Exam
Private lawyers get their cases depending on their
are conducted mainly in April and September, keep reading
reputation and experience. Any lawyer first works as a Jr.
employment news.
lawyer under an experienced lawyer and slowly develop
according to their situations. Lawyers can take up criminal Eligibility Criteria: Candidate must be passed class 12
cases, civil cases depending upon their convenience. (PCM) with at least 60% aggregate. Appearing candidates
are also eligible to apply.
Animation:
Age Limit: Candidate must not reach the age of 19 and 1/2
As a fairly new artistic career path, it’s a profession filled
years before the commencement of training, which is
with opportunity and guarantees a career packed with
generally held from 1st July every year.
continuous learning and opportunities creating special
effects or animation and working with various media, such 2) CDSE: Combined Defense Service Examination is
as video, computers, movies, music videos, and conducted by UPSC twice every year, basically in the
commercials. You’ll find more than one way of being month of April and September.
creative —
Eligibility Criteria: Candidate those who have passed there
and you’ll no
B.tech with at least 60% aggregate including all semester
doubt want to
and also have studied Physics and Mathematics at +2.
take a crack at
Those who are in there final year can also apply, but there
them all!
should not be any Backlogs.
A career as an
Age Limit: 23 years
animator will
have y o u 3) NCC Special Entry Scheme: Candidates who holds at
working across least NCC "C" Certificate in Air Wings Senior Level.
v a r i o u s Eligibility Criteria: Same as above
industries, as
there’s a need Age Limit: 23 years
for your skills 4) Short Service Commission: Those are specially meant
in advertising and computer system design services, as for recruiting candidates in flying branch for 14 years of
well as the motion picture and video game industries. service. After end of period if they deserve then they will be
Whether you’re thinking about going to school to become g r a n t e d
an animator, you’ve just graduated and need some advice p e r m a n e n t
to start your career. commission, if
not then get
Pharmacist: placed in
To become a pharmacist you have to do a four year master r e p u t e d
of pharmacy degree course which normally needs good companies’ like-
science/mathematics A-levels to get into, although some Air India etc.
mature students get admitted because of their experience. E l i g i b i l i t y
After you finish your degree there is a pre-registration year, Criteria: Same
where you spend a year in practice and can be in either as above
community pharmacy or hospital pharmacy (and a few do it
in industry). If you get through this ok and your tutor signs Age Limit: 23 years
you off you also have to sit an exam (two three hour exams Fashion Designer:
on the same day).If you pass that, then you can register as
The steps to becoming a fashion designer are concrete and
a pharmacist.
vague at the same time. Some of the steps you need to
Pilot: take to pursue a successful career as a fashion designer
NDA: National Defense Academy Exam is conducted twice are clear and easily executed.

livelihoods June 2011 19

 Fashion designers need an education in the history of
fashion as well as the ability to analyze, research, and
predict current and future fashion trends. They need a keen
eye for style, design, aesthetic and proportion. They also
need sewing, patternmaking, and drawing skills.
While some abilities necessary to a successful fashion
design career are acquired over time with experience in the
business, such as fabric choice and trend analysis, the
base skills are often learned in a formal college setting.
Many colleges and universities offer fashion design
programs as well as specialized.
Nursing:
A career in nursing can be rewarding and lucrative. It can
be a fulfilling vocation, or a path to a high-paying job in
hospital administration or elsewhere in the health-care
industry. Preparing for the job often requires years of
Others have more to do with your individual gifts and education, and there are several ways to go about it.
unique opportunities. However, becoming a fashion
designer isn’t based purely on luck. There are steps you Basic Education
can take to start your fashion career off on the right foot. Earn your high school diploma or GED. You'll need one or
In order to be a fashion designer, you need a combination the other to be accepted to nursing school. According to the
of skills, education, talent, and experience. The advice site nursingjobshelp.com, high school students who
professionals with the best abilities and most unique talents wish to pursue nursing should concentrate on classes such
have the greatest chance of finding success in this very as algebra, chemistry, physics and biology.
glamorous but competitive industry. Sometimes it’s hard to Bachelor's Degree
know if you have what it takes to make it to the top of any
Many nurses recommend going to a four-year college and
competitive business. However, you can take control of
earning a bachelor's degree in nursing. There are faster
your future by completing the training and education you
ways to become a nurse, but hospitals often pay nurses
need to get started.
based on their level of education, according to
Future in Fashion Designing:
Job growth in fashion design progresses at a slower pace
compared to other industries. Slow job growth is due to the
extremely competitive nature of this unique industry. Job
availability is very limited because of high demand for
fashion positions. However, most professionals in the
fashion industry are paid fairly well beyond the entry level.
Beginning fashion designers, such as pattern makers and
sketching assistants, can earn as little as $25,000 annually.
Starting freelance fashion designers can suffer from
fluctuating, unpredictable income. However, mid-level and studentdoc.com, a website featuring advice for medical
upper-level fashion design positions can bring solid students.
incomes of $60,000 to $100,000 annually. Fashion
designers with their own labels or executive positions can Associate's Degree
earn even more. And yet, in terms of formal education, Another way to become a nurse is to earn an associate's
fashion designers at all levels have similar degrees. You degree at a community college or technical school. This
don’t necessarily need more degrees and education to can take two to three years, but may result in lower pay,
excel in the industry. according to studentdoc.com, a website featuring advice for
Education for Fashion Designing: medical students. Many associates' programs are popular
because of the high demand for nurses.
Almost all working fashion designers at all levels have
formal education in fashion design. Because fashion design Conclusion: These are some of the better degrees other
requires a particular set of unique skills, most designers than Medicine and Engineering where present students are
attend college or design school in order to master those interested in molding their future.
skills and get the training they need to secure a fashion “HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE”.

design position.

20 June 2011 livelihoods

 Case Studies of Poor Families
A Security Guard’s Story...
This is a story of Mr. Lakshmaiah and his family; they are from Lakadikapool in Secunderabad city. He is 45 years old.
He works as a security guard for an ATM and earns Rs 2000 per month. He has two children and his wife in family. Al-
though he didn’t study, he wants his children to study and is partly successful. His children are studying in 8th grade at a
government school. His wife works as a domestic help in different houses in the neighbourhood. She is earning Rs 1000
per month. She also does tailoring work such as blouses and falls which pay her Rs. 200 per month.

Their total family income adds to Rs 3200 per month. They live in a single-rented room. They pay Rs. 1000 per month as
rent. As one of the children is affected by Polio, her medicinal costs cost Rs. 200 per month. Schools fees of the children
cost Rs. 1000 per month. Their family has not-so-good food habits because of high cost of living. The water facilities in
their area are not good. Hence, they sort to buy water cans paying Rs. 20 per can. Lakshmaiah being a man of values
doesn’t consume liquor even though he is forced by his pupils. He says that, this controllable habit of him is helping his
family to save money. He wants to spend this money wisely by using them for his children education. He strongly feels,
his children education can permanently eradicate them from their poverty.

Barber Family...
Satish lived at Baghlingampally Hyderabad. He is 38 years old. He is a barber. He studied upto 10th class. He has a fam-
ily of a wife, two sons and one brother. His brother, Gopal, is 42 years old. He is suffering with fits. His wife is 26 years
old. She studied upto 5th class then she worked in electrical shop for 7 years. Then she got married at the age of 18. He
has 2 sons—Maneesh and Bharath. Maneesh is 6 years old and Bharath is 5 years old. They are studying in Deeksha
Model School.
Satish has to pay a monthly fee of Rs.1000/- for his children’s education. His monthly income is Rs.7000/-. He is unable
to provide proper food to his family. 10 years back his family position was good. He borrowed Rs.50,000/- for his health
problem. He couldn’t pay the debt in time. He was forced to sell his house. The cost of his house was Rs.4,00,000/-. He
cleared the debt Rs.50,000/-. Rs.3,50,000/- amount remained. He took a small saloon shop with Rs 2,00.000/Satish is
living in a not-so-good rented house. During rainy season, they sleep in the saloon shop. He has to pay house rent
Rs.2000/- per month. Now his wife is working in a baby care center. She used to get salary Rs. 3000/- per month. Re-
cently his wife started using lottery tickets for Rs. 10,000/- but she hasn’t been successful so far. Now at present their
family is in a critical condition.

A Weaving Family…
Krishnayya belongs to Singereni slums at Hyderabad. He is 45 years old. He has wife and 4 children. He and his wife are
engaged in weaving work in a textile shop. They weave 3-4 pancham’s per month. One pancham means 24 metres.
Along with their labour work they get 500 rupees per month. This income could not meet the expenses of his family.
The dress materials rates are rapidly increased. Krishnayya owner had reduced his salary from 100 rupees per pancham
to 80 rupees per pancham. Now his condition has become more miserable.
An interesting thing about this family is that this man Krishnayya sold his ration card for 500 rupees when his wife got
some high fever. So, he is not able get any rice because of his poverty. He has to get half a kilo rice per two days for 10
rupees. For us half a kilo is enough for just one time, but they have to adjust it for two days. Their food habits are very
simple that in the morning they took some tea without milk and some rice with pickle. In the afternoon they may or may
not eat and in the night they eat some roti’s made of Jowar. Their nutritious levels are very low because they do not eat
any healthy food like fruits and meat.
Because of the miserable conditions of his family, he is not able to send his children to school .He said that he wants to
save some amount in the bank to start a Tailor shop in their colony. So his wife could run that shop. His family income
would increase and his children could also study in a private school. In this way they are working hard for the betterment
of their livelihood and also in improving their financial status.

livelihoods June 2011 21

 Self help is the best help...
P.Yadayyaiah belongs to Karimnagar presently he is living at slum of Addagutta. He came to Hyderabad with his family
15 years ago; his family consists of 4 members, his wife and 2 children. Yadaiah works as an auto driver and his wife
Rekha doing household work in other houses. Both of them work from morning to evening to educate their children. They
have 2 daughters; both are studying in government school. Even though both of them work and earn, they are still under
poverty and they not even eat three times a day.
They are adjusting with 2 meals per day .Their living conditions are very horrible and they are living in a single room
which is very small. 8 years ago, Yadaiah’s elder daughter fell sick and was taken to Addagutta PHC, doctors advised for
an MRI scan. He didn’t have sufficient amount that time, they neglected it and after 3 months his daughter got severe
backache then they took her to hospital where doctors confirmed that she has a Spinal TB, a deadly disease. They ad-
vised a surgery which costs around 100000 rupees. At that time their family didn’t have a ration card and thus he could
not afford for Arogyasri programme. He worked hard for 5 years and recently his daughter has been cured. Now he is
working hard to develop their family condition and to educate their children. We came to know the faithful attitude of
Yadaiah when he said that “I don’t want any help from others because this is my family and I have to work hard for it”.
Even though he is poor, his faithful attitude is making them to survive in poverty.

Shankariah from Shankarampet

Shankariah belongs to Shankarampet Village in Medak Dist. He is very poor. This is the interview about his life journey.
Shankariah once lived at Shankarampet Village in Medak Dist. He is 65 years old. His profession is washing and ironing
clothes. He has a wife, 6 sons and 2 daughters. Among the six sons, two were dead one due to snake bite and another
in road accident. Remaining 4 sons and 2 daughter are married except the last daughter, now she is 13 years old. His
wife is washing clothes in some other houses for monthly basis. He had an acre of land. Due to his poverty he couldn’t
give education to his children. Now his sons are doing daily labour work.
Now, he came to Hyderabad city and he is staying at his elder sister’s home. He is living in Marredpally in Hyderabad. He
has an iron shop in Addagutta. He comes to his shop everyday by bicycle. Daily he earns up to Rs.100. He charges Rs.8
per one pair of clothing, if clothes are more he charges Rs.6 per pair. He has severe eye sight which can be cured by
operation. He went to a government hospital but he wasn’t treated well. So he used spectacles for five months but it was
of no use. Daily he takes food only two times per day and every night he is suffered by starvation. Although he is staying
in his sister’s house he prepares food for himself. He goes to his native place during every festival to see his wife and
daughter. He is not happy with his income and he is unable to eat nutritional food. If he is unable to come to his shop,
that day he washes clothes near to his house and every month he earns nearly Rs.3000. Still now he is living a very un-
happy life.

“Tattered Clothes, Broken Lives…”

This is a story of Mrs. Rangamma and family, a widow from Khairatabad in Hyderabad city. She is 31 years old. Due to
the negligence of her parents, she has been affected by Polio. Her educational qualifications weren’t exceptional either,
as she studied only up to 2nd class. She has two children. They are studying 5th grade at nearby school. Her husband
used to take care of children education but died due to severe health problem unexpectedly. Hence, she resorted for
begging. Rangamma has a home in Secunderabad. Her home is hut-like with leaking roof and cracking walls. She and
her children get only 1-time a day meal. They do not have good water facilities. Improper sanitation which are a breeding
ground for mosquitoes is also a problem. The locality in which she lives is also bad both economically and culturally. She
belongs to Dalit caste, which also adds to her misery. She is unhappy with her job and wants a permanent job so that she
can provide further education for her children. She earns 100-120 rupees every day. Her expenditures per day are 110-
120 rupees. With these wages and expenditures she is considered to be below poverty line. She wears tattered clothes
and their children wear clothes given by the orphanages. When they are affected by fever, they do not have money to
buy medicines. They end up with expired medicines.
As she being a young woman, she faces hardships from the pedestrians. Although she doesn’t get any help from govern-
ment or private organization, she wouldn’t mind to live in a shelter given by them. To earn more money, she begs at dif-
ferent places. Recently, as she couldn’t bear the hardships she landed her children in an orphanage. She pays visit every
fortnight to this orphanage. Even though, she has such miserable conditions she always comes forward to help others.
She confesses that she never wanted to get into begging but the situations led her into this. In this way she is living a life
of unhappiness yet having a ray of hope.

22 June 2011 livelihoods

 Development in Action

Young Professionals - Aashayein Foundation

It is said that today’s children are tomorrow’s achievers. The live example of this quote is
given by the IT professionals of Bangalore for the first time in India. By reading this, you
will be thinking that the IT professionals have discussed about, became achievers in
Information Technology. Well it will be a wrong guess as these IT professionals have
achieved the love and affection of the poor children by adopting them and giving
education with lots of care. Aashayein is an NGO established by the IT professionals of
Bangalore which adopts the poor children and provide their needs including education.

How it was started: On 2007 New Year ’s Eve, 20 IT professionals decided to do something different, something where
they can utilize their weekends more productively. They started off with serving breakfast from the first Sunday of 2007 at
different ashrams, old age homes, home for blind and orphanages in Bangalore. The group gradually grew in strength
and this support gave an opportunity to broaden the horizons and work on more ideas. Initially the group did not have a
name but they had only a motive - 'To make a difference‘ Finally, they registered the group as Aashayein Foundation.
an NGO.
Objective: To empower children who are from economically weaker sections of the society. To achieve this focus is on
providing both monetary/non-monetary support in the field of education. To collaborate with corporate, NGOs, govt.
schools to reach out to more number of needy students. To spread the awareness of education among parents who don’t
send their kids to schools. To initiate AF social club in educational institutions in Hyderabad to tap the future leaders of
the country. To organize workshops for teachers & members to improve methods of teaching. To work towards capacity
building. To include the basic tenets of corporate governance.
Aashayein projects: Sunday Breakfast Activity (SBA)
Objective
To serve breakfast at various orphanages, old age homes, blind schools, leprosy centers and other places, thereby to
spend some time with the inmates to make them feel comfortable, to make them feel that there is somebody who cares
for them and they are not alone, to share their joys and sorrows. To act as the meeting place and a platform for new
volunteers to get to know about Aashayein and the projects.
Process

• Identify orphanages, old age homes, blind schools, leprosy centers or other such places which have monetary
constraints.

• Get in touch with them, inform them about the intention to server breakfast and on Sunday morning visit them, server
them and spend some time with them.

livelihoods June 2011 23

• After breakfast serving introduce new members to existing volunteers, brief them about Aashayein and the projects
and how they can work with us in the cause.

• Maintain a database of all such places who are in need, for collaboration, to meet their needs directly or by referring
to a partner NGO.

• Update the database with new places referred by volunteers and plan to visit them on one Sunday.
Why breakfast serving?
Breakfast serving drive was the first step towards serving underprivileged children which was extended to old age homes
later. This activity gives us an opportunity to interact with kids and senior citizens. They get to know their world, hopes,
dreams and aspirations which acts as inspirations for us. These meetings also act as forum to acquaint people with
Aashayein. They invite and welcome new members to Aashayein Foundation, share information about work done in past
and the future plans. At the same time, they celebrate birthdays of the members. This also gives us an opportunity to
interact with organizations with similar goals. They met people from various NGOs during the Sunday Breakfast Serving
activity and they have come forward not only to be a part of this activity but also to associate with us in the longer run.
Work done so far
They have continuously served breakfast on every Sunday for over 100 weeks now from 7th January, 2007. They started
the breakfast serving activity even before Aashayein as an NGO was born. They have visited many orphanages, blind
schools, old age homes, leprosy centers, slums and construction workers area in and around Bangalore and have started
this activity in Hyderabad as well.
Bacche Mann Ke Sacche (BMKS):
Objective
To identify children who do not get a chance to attend schools and provide them with educational opportunities. Through
this project they intend to reach and support the children from economically weaker section of the society thereby giving
them an opportunity to get education
.Process

• Identify children who are not going to school due to family’s economic condition.

• Admit those children to near by Government or Government aided school.

• Target children in the age group of 6 to 16 i.e. from Std. 1 to 10.

• Monitor their performance quarterly and take appropriate actions to improve non performing children
Ensure continuation of their education (till 10th Std.)
Present Situation
There are many children in the society who are deprived of education. Parents cannot afford the cost of education and
hence, these children don’t get a chance to go to schools. The most disheartening thing is that these kids have to work at
a young age while ideally, they should be accumulating all the knowledge they can.
Work done so far:
They visited slum areas and construction workers areas, made a survey of all the children who are not going to school,
talked to their parents, explained them about the importance of education and convinced them to send their children to
school. They then approached the schools in the vicinity for admissions. Government is working hard in spreading the
importance of education and through this project they want to support the Government in achieving the dream of every
child going to school. Academic year 2007-08: 76 children enrolled in various schools across Bangalore 65* children
successfully completed one year of education.
Academic year 2008-09: 159 children enrolled in 8 schools across Bangalore
Academic year 2009-10: Admitted 300 children in various schools across Bangalore
Academic year 2010-11: Planning to Admit 350-400 children in various schools across Bangalore.
Shikshana Abhiyana (SA): Objective
To enhance the quality education provided to the children in various Governments and Government aided schools,
thereby bridging the knowledge gap between the public and private schools.
Process

• Identify Government schools or Government aided schools where they want to enhance the quality of education
provided.

24 June 2011 livelihoods

• Form a TEaching Group 'TEG' of volunteers who are interested to teach in these schools.

• Speak with the Principals of respective schools and get required permission

• Identify the area which they want to impact - Basic English, Communication Skills, Indigenous Knowledge, etc ...
Make a monthly plan of what is to be taught and follow it.
Present Situation
Government schools children are being taught English as part of their academic curriculum. But this is only sufficient for
them to answer questions from a text book and their knowledge is limited to what is being taught in the books. They
simply lack the ability to converse in English. For Eg. They can spell out all characters of English alphabets from A - Z,
but if you ask them, "What comes after Q?" They are blank, they don't know, they recite from A - P in mind and then
answer.
Work done so far
They have been teaching Basic Communication English at a government school on every Saturday morning. They have
understood what these children need, their strengths and weaknesses. Theye also understand that a great deal of work
needs to be put into this project. Since the standard of English is really poor in these schools, it requires no real
preparation in order to teach them. Now this project is being expanded to other places.
Activities conducted include Basic communication in English, Computer basics, Educational visits to Planetarium and
Museums and Drawing competitions.
Pustaka Abhiyana (PA):
Objective
To ensure every child has access to basic writing materials pertinent for their education
Process

• Identify a school or children who are in need of Basic writing materials.

• Target children in the age group of 6 to 16 i.e. from Std. 1 to 10.

• Provide Basic writing material to such children individually or by conducting a distribution drive in the school.

• Continue to provide writing materials as and when the students have exhausted their supply.
Track and make sure the writing materials are put to good use and not misused.
Present Situation: Most often, even though children have access to schools they find it difficult to obtain a regular
supply of note books. The outcome of this is that the children have very less or no exposure to writing. They believe that
this is one of the major reasons why children are not able maintain their interest in classes or not able to practice what is
learnt at school.
Work done so far : They have distributed over 10000 books till date. All these books were given to children in
government schools including rural areas of Bangalore, Kolar, Hassan and Tirchy. Through Pustaka Abhiyana,
Aashayein Foundation has reached out to children from various backgrounds who are in real need of basic writing
material, thus making sure, an opportunity to learn is not lost out merely due to lack of stationery. They look forward to
continue this effort in the future too by having numerous book distribution drives across states.
Hyderabad operations: 29th Feb, ‘08 was the day when few like-minded youngsters came together in Infosys food court
and decided to start Aashayein Foundation in Hyderabad. On 9th March, ’08, Kovelamudi Aashram formed the
background for 1st activity in Hyderabad and thus, began the Hyderabad operations.
Sponsors and finances: In Bangalore, Supported by Perot Systems, Robert Bosch, Oracle, HP, HCL, Tech Mahindra,
Yahoo, Texas Instruments, Zenith, Honeywell, Wipro, SAP & IBM. In Hyderabad, supported by Infosys, Deloitte, HCL,
Bank of America, Google, Wipro & Convergys. Contribution from more than 1000 individuals by organizing awareness &
notebooks drives in Companies & IBS. Currently working on a self-generated & sustainable revenue generation model.
Negligible administrative expenses Dedicated members to manage the accounts. Monthly internal audits of financial
statements & plans to publish them on website also. Publish the audited Financial Statements for 2008-’09. Annual
Report of 2008-’09 to be published. No cash transactions. Contributions made only through cheques or e-transfers. Use
of cash vouchers for payments to vendors.
Awards and Coverage: Partnered with Deloitte on their Impact Day on 5th June 2009.Conferred the Certificate of
Appreciation during the Young Achiever Award ’08 by Rotary Bangalore Midtown & Brigade group. Dharmesh Porwal,
one of the trustees, was selected for social entrepreneurship workshop at London School of Business. Ankur Sharma
awarded Chhatrapati Shivaji award for his work towards BMKS. Anshi Goel awarded “Women who are Catalysts for
Social Change” on Women’s Day by Infosys, Hyderabad for her work in Aashayein in Mar, ’09.

livelihoods June 2011 25

 Opinion

Share of Child Labour

Over the past ten years of about 8% pa GDP growth, there has been widespread talk of India’s Demographic Dividend
(share of population in 15‐60 age group) arising out of the young average age of India’s population. The theory is that the
small the share of population in the below 15 and above 60 the greater the contribution of the productive population to
GDP growth. Among the propagators of the India Demographic Dividend story are Dr Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble Prime
Minister and many notable figures around the world. Many present the story as though the demographic contours of India
have been carefully sculpted through policy, management and governance. Far from it, India has a history of ignoring
demographic trends and not preparing for it.
The 2001 census threw up the figures that children under 18 accounted for almost 43% of India’s Population‐ about 450
million. Yet, in spite of the first UPA government manifesto of a commitment of 9% of annual Union budget for children,
even as of 2011, a little more than 4% is allocated towards children. In this gap between the needs of the world’s largest
children’s population and (amongst) the world’s lowest per child budgets that is allocated in India is the story of Indian
Children’s contribution to the GDP- The story of Child Labour in India.
The story is best unfolded by an examination of the Census data on child Labour. The Census data for child Labour has
traditionally been presented as children up to 14 years.
12.67 million as child labour has been widely reported. As can be seen in the period from 1971 to 1991 the child Labour
figure was seen as declining. Economic liberalization commenced in 1991. The dept of Census, Govt. of India has just
published provisional census data for the Census of 2010
Once again the age wise data reported by the Census is 5‐9 yrs, 10‐14 yrs and 15‐19 years. Since the Juvenile Justice
Act, 2000 has pegged the age of children, in line with international conventions, at 18, we can no longer overlook the
population of working children in the age group of 15‐18. However, the Census does not show this breakup.
Population of Main workers in Census, 2010:,As can be seen in the table above, children up to 14 total
The Census also reports population of children in Marginal workers of India:

All India Main Workers Male Female Total

5‐9 yrs 501890 308209 810099

10‐14 yrs 3070300 1858116 4928416

15‐19 yrs 15098122 5448644 20546766

Total India 18670312 7614969 26285281
% of child labour to total workforce 7.78% 10.47% 8.41%
Total workforce (all ages) 239923441 72708941 312632382

All India Marginal Workers Male Female Total

5‐9 yrs 495494 534927 1030421

10‐14 yrs 2711397 3146172 5857569

15‐19 yrs 5821090 5929351 11750441

Total India 9027981 9610450 18638431
% to total workforce 25.90% 17.67% 20.89%

Total workforce (all ages) 34859808 54374298 89234106

Lets us see the picture when both Main workers and Marginal workers are combined:

26 June 2011 livelihoods

 All India Total Workforce Male Female Total

5‐9 yrs 997384 843136 1840520

10‐14 yrs 5781697 5004288 10785985

15‐19 yrs 20919212 11377995 32297207

Total India 27698293 17225419 44923712

% to total workforce 10.08% 13.55% 11.18%

Total workforce (all ages) 274783249 127083239 401866488

If you take the children up top 14 the total number of children in the workforce is 12626505. The real picture emerges
when you start adding the child work force in the ages 1 5‐19. One could argue that 19 year olds ought to be excluded
from the calculation of child Labourers.
Literacy level of workforce in 15‐19 yrs:-

Male Female Total

15‐19 yrs 15‐19yrs 15‐19 yrs

Main workers Urban

Literate 738274 237927 976201

Illiterate 2769859 503389 3273248

Literate below matric/ 2007812 344226 2352038

secondary
Total Urban 5515945 1085542 6601487

Rural

Literate 3440715 2343107 5783822

Illiterate 8219134 2390011 10609145

Literate below matric/ 6496471 1902774 8399245

secondary

Total Rural 18156320 6635892 24792212

The table shows that vast bulk of 15‐19 yr olds have not completed 10th. So they have been in the
workforce before they turned 18. For the sake of discussion we have to include this age group (15‐19) in the workforce.,
The shocking news is this:
11% of the workforce of India is child labour. One in every 10 workers in India is a child! If you allocate a tenth of
India’s GDP to this share you can see India’s Child Labour has a stake in India’s GDP. We have done an detailed
analysis of the various sectors presented in the Census data for both main and marginal workers (see table below).
Clearly some sectors are more prone to child labour than others. What can be done about Child Labour? In 1979, the
Government appointed Gurupadswamy Committee studied the issue of child labour and observed that as long as poverty
continued, it would be difficult to totally eliminate child labour and hence, any attempt to abolish it through legal recourse
would not be a practical proposition.
The Committee recommended a ban on child labour in hazardous areas and a multiple policy to deal with the problems
of working children. Based on the recommendations of Gurupadaswamy Committee, the Child Labour (Prohibition &
Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986. The Act prohibits employment of children in certain specified hazardous
occupations and processes and regulates the working conditions in others.

(Nishit Kumar, Head Communications and Strategic Initiatives, CHILDLINE India Foundation)

livelihoods June 2011 27

 Context

Aarogyasri Scheme
The people expenditure on health is continuously The Unique Features of the Policy are:
increasing. So, poor are unable to access the health The scheme will encompass all the family members of the
services. BPL families.
Health Insurance could be a way of removing the financial All the family members whose photographs and details
barriers and improving access of poor to quality medical appear on white ration card are the eligible for benefit.
care; of providing financial protection against high medical
expenses; and negotiating with the providers for better The members are insured against surgeries on KIDNEY,
quality care. In this context Aarogyasri Health Care Trust HEART, BRAIN, CANCER, BURN INJURIES and
recently setup by the State Government for the ACCIDENTS (other than those covered by MV Act.). The
implementation of the scheme called Rajiv Aarogyasri. scheme envisages cashless transaction. Patient gets
admitted, operated and discharged without paying any
Rajiv Aarogyasri Community Health Insurance Scheme money.
objectives: To improve access of BPL families to quality
medical care for treatment of diseases involving Immediate Pre and post operative expenditure included in
hospitalization and surgery/therapy through an identified packages, so as to minimize the other financial expenses
network of health care providers. In the initial phase, the to the patient.
scheme would provide coverage for the following diseases; Rajiv Aarogyasri Community Health Insurance
Heart, Cancer, Neurosurgery, Renal diseases, Burn and Scheme: (Aarogyasri II):
Poly trauma cases. (except cases covered under motor
vehicle accidents.) Encouraged by the success of the ongoing scheme,
Government have now decided to launch with effect from
Enrollment: 17th July, 2008, the Aarogyasri-II scheme to include a
Family means the group of individuals as indicated in a large number of additional surgical and medical diseases
white ration card (BPL card). There is no separate to enable many more BPL people who are now suffering
enrollment procedure, the white ration card with from acute ailments, to lead a healthy life.
photograph / age indicated in the white ration cards (BPL Aarogyasri-II scheme is an extension of the ongoing Health
cards) will be taken as the proof for enrollment. The white Insurance Scheme. The front end of the ongoing scheme
card (BPL card) will be the Health Card. viz., network hospitals, Aarogyamithras, Health Cards etc.,
Procedure: The contact point would be PHC and will remain the same. Only difference would be that the pre
Government hospitals in the District, where Insurer will -authorization and claim processing for the new diseases
have a help desk known as Aarogyasri Help Desk. The would be done by the Trust directly and funded from the
desk will be managed by a Aarogyasri Health Coordinator CM Relief Fund.
(AHC) to be appointed and paid by the Insurer. 30 groups of eminent doctors from the Government and
Aarogyasri Help Desk at PHC / Government Hospitals will corporate hospital sectors have through a series of
refer patients on the recommendation of the PHC/ discussions and in consultation with the managements of
Government Doctors to one of the Network Hospitals or corporate hospitals finalized a list of 389 surgical and 144
hospital of the BPL family member's choice within the medical diseases and also evolved package rates for its
network. At the Network Hospital Insurer will establish cashless treatment.
Aarogyasri Assistance Counters and will facilitate the With the launch of Aarogyasri-II, cashless treatment of BPL
referred BPL family member to go through the tests and population for all major diseases will become possible in
thereafter if needed for the surgical treatment. White Government / corporate hospitals. Diseases covered under
Ration Card (BPL Card) holders can also directly approach ongoing Aarogyasri - I and those proposed to be covered
Aarogyasri Assistance Counters at the Network Hospital under Aarogyasri-II are complimentary to the facilities
for examination and treatment. available in Government hospitals and put together
For treatment of poly-trauma and burns cases Insurer will substantially meet the medical requirement of general
set up the network of hospitals closer to the people population. The diseases specifically excluded from the list
preferably at the mandal level. are: High end diseases such as 'hip and knee
replacement, bone morrow, cardiac and liver
The Aarogyasri Assistance Counters at the network transplantation, gamma-knife procedures in neurosurgery,
hospitals will facilitate cashless transaction and formalities assisted devices for cardiac failures etc;
connected with discharge of patient and enable forwarding
the bills for payment to the Hyderabad zonal Office of Diseases covered by National Programs viz., TB, HIV /
Insurer. AIDS, Leprosy, infectious diseases, Malaria, Filarial,
Gastroenteritis, Jaundice etc. To the extent the scope of
Notwithstanding whatever stated above, if a patient gets Aarogyasri- I is enlarged by Aarogyasri-II , it would no
admitted directly in a network hospital and fulfills all the longer be permissible for the BPL population to approach
criteria for the benefits under the scheme, his/her case will the Government for providing relief for medical purposes
be considered. from the CM Relief Fund.

28 June 2011 livelihoods

 Case Studies

Out of Poverty Hard Work Never Fails

Mallaiah belongs to Gundrampally village, Chityal mandal seasonal crops. At the beginning, he mostly depended on
in Nalgonda district. He is about 65 years old. He belongs rains for the growth of the crops. But slowly he managed to
to a poor family and owns around one acre of land. That dig some bore wells and could get enough of water for his
land is pretty dry and is capable of producing only one crop fields. With the financial support from his elder son, he
per year. He had no money to set up bore well in his land. bought two oxen and two buffaloes. Thus he was able to
In his family, he has two sons and one daughter. His wife supply some milk in the village. Selling this milk provided
died due to cancer in their childhood. He earns 4000/- per him with an additional Rs 1,000 per month. Using his
month by doing his labor work. His earnings weren’t savings of four years, they were able to buy that five acres
sufficient for household expenditure and education of his of land. Over time, he got both of his sons also married.
children. In order to tackle this situation, he cleverly His elder son Suresh continued his business with the shop
increased his income and also put his children in even after his marriage. His second son still helped his
government school. He was also able to buy some land in father in agriculture. In the following years, Mallaiah saved
the process. an additional Rs 2,00,000 and bought some more
His elder son Suresh studied up to Tenth standard and he buffaloes. The milk production became high enough for
came to Hyderabad to set up his own shop. His second him to establish a milk center, from which he sells milk to
son Ramesh studied up to 8th class and he helps his surrounding villages. He built his own house by taking loan
father in agriculture. He also owns a grocery store in that of Rs 2,00,000 from a bank. He earned lots of respect for
village. He performed his daughter’s marriage by giving himself and his family with his hard work. His family
good amount of dowry of Rs 1,00,000. He took five acres income continued to increase. Now he is leading his life
of land for lease and paddy, cotton, and some other very happily.

Broken Lives
Think Twice Before Doing Anything
Yadgiri belongs to Gundrampally village, Chityal mandal in He was also disappointed with the number of customers he
Nalgonda district. He has a wife and two children. received daily. When he initially thought of setting up a
Previously, he had five acres of land where he used to bakery, he had very high expectations of the business and
grow paddy, seasonal fruits, and vegetables. His wife hoped for high profits. Due to his inexperience, he wasn’t
would sell these vegetables in the village and he would sell able to completely satisfy the customers who did shop at
the paddy at a rice mill. He received sufficient income for his bakery. Moreover he was poor at calculations; often
his livelihood. losing out money because of negligence.

However, he was not satisfied with the money he was He was too late to understand that there would be good
getting, so he wanted to do something else for improving profits only if the shop is maintained with neatness. So,
his income. He took advice from his friends and decided to finally he incurred great loss in this business and could not
sell his land and set up a business in Hyderabad. even pay his shop rent. He was forced to close his shop
and go back to his village where he had nothing left for
Firstly, he did not know which business to start. He has no
him.
experience in business field particularly he has no
knowledge in bakery business. In confusion and chaos, he His children weren’t able to continue their studies. They
started a bakery with all the money he had. He rented a stop their education due to financial problems. Now they
shop and inquired other bakers about the items, their are going to daily for labour work. By seeing the situation
prices, and profits. He started the business with just sheer of his family, he became mentally disturbed and got
curiosity and wasn’t educated about the economics behind paralyzed. Now he depends on his wife and children labour
it. He failed to understand that over the recent few years, work for his basic needs. He realized what he did wrong,
everyone is taking good care of their health and the but it’s too late to rectify his faults.

demand for bakeries went down.

livelihoods June 2011 29

 Interview with Grassroots Activist

I Don’t Like to Depend on Anybody

Arundathi works as a Health Assistant in PHC (Primary poor people in slums, children in Anganwadi centers.
Health Centre) at Addagutta in Hyderabad. In this Q: Did you participated in Health awareness camps?
interview, Arundathi explained her experience as Health
Assistant. A: yes, monthly once we will participate in Health
Q: What is your name? Age? awareness camps.
A: I am Arundathi, I am 41 years old. Q: For how many days these Health awareness camps will
be conducted?
Q: Where is your Native place?
A: Monthly once we conduct Heath awareness camps.
A: I am from Srinivasapuram Village in Medak District.
Q: Where will you conduct these camps?
Q: How long you are living in Hyderabad?
A: Mostly in villages, slum areas and anganwadi centers.
Q: How many patients will visit your P.H.C daily?
A: Nearly 100 patients will visit daily.
Q: Which type of diseases you eill treat?
A: General diseases like fever, cough, malaria etc.
Q: How much did you get before and now?
A: Previously I used to get Rs.600 per month now, by
experience now I am getting Rs.23000 per month.
Q: How many years did you have experience?
A: Totally I have 21 years of experience.
Q: Where are your children studying?
A: My children are studying in private school in Hyderabad.
Q: Do you have any Debts?
A: Still now I am not taken any loan.
A: Since 15 years.
Q: Do you have any savings?
Q: Where did you stay in Hyderabad? Where are you
going to work? A: Per month I save Rs.2500 and I pay per year Rs.50000
policy for my daughter.
A: In L.B Nagar and I work at Addagutta P.H.C.
Q: Do you have any plan for your children future?
Q: How many members are in your family?
A: Per month I am saving some money for them.
A: We are 4, one son and one daughter.
Q: What is your daily activities?
Q: What did your husband doing?
A: On every Monday we will have P.H.C meeting and we
A: He is working as a Driver in private taxi services. will discuss the field work experience and how to do with
Q: How much did your husband earn? people at their villages. By the Tuesday we have field work
and we will give treatment and check up for T.B, Malaria,
A: He earns up to Rs.5000 per month.
typhoid, cholera, dengue and lepers. If a person have
Q: what did you study? cough continuously for three weeks we will consider that
A: I completed B.sc Nursing before my marriage. case as a T.B. patient and we will send that patient to
P.H.C for further better treatment. On Wednesday we go
Q: When did you get married? through the children health, nutrition details for children
A: 14 years back I got married. and anti natal check up for pregnant ladies. On Thursday
Q: When did you joined in P.H.C? we will treat newly married couple for late delivery by
giving IUD (copper T) and it will stops pregnancy for three
A: 18 years back I joined in P.H.C. months and we will give oral pills to them. By Friday again I
Q: What did you do before this job? will go field work to cover the rest of the patients in the
villages and at slums. On Saturday will have work at our
A: I had worked as a Nurse in private Hospital in Medak Headquarters and on Sunday again I will go for field work
Dist. as usually.
Q: What is your present livelihood? Q: Would you like to share anything with us?
A: Now I am working as Health Assistant in P.H.C. A: I like to help others who are in need, till now I am
Q: What is your work in P.H.C? working hard and leading a good life, I don’t ask anybodies
A: My work is to for field work, to look out the health of the help.

30 June 2011 livelihoods

 Books
Book Summary complex systems, requiring differential diagnosis, an under-
standing of context, monitoring and evaluation, and profes-
sional standards of ethics. Clinical economics requires a
methodic analysis and "differential diagnosis" of a country's
economic problems, followed by a specifically tailored pre-
Name of the Book: The scription.
End of Poverty—Economic
Possibilities for Our Time In order to illustrate the use of clinical economics, Sachs
presents case studies on Bolivia, Poland, and Russia, and
discusses the solutions he presented to those countries,
Author: Jeffrey D. Sachs and their effects.

Publisher: Penguin Press New Book

In the book, Sachs argues
Name of the Book: Walking With The Poor:
that extreme poverty—
defined by the World Principles and Practices of Transformational Development
Bank as incomes of less
than 1 dollar per day—can
be eliminated globally by
the year 2025, through
carefully planned development aid. Editor: Bryant L. Myers

He presents the problem as an inability of very poor coun- Publisher: Orbis Books
tries to reach the "bottom rung" of the ladder of economic
development; once the bottom rung is reached, a country
can pull itself up into the global market economy, and the
need for outside aid will be greatly diminished or eliminated.
In order to address and remedy the specific economic
stumbling blocks of various countries, Sachs espouses the
use of what he terms "clinical economics", by analogy to
medicine. Sachs explains that countries, like patients, are

Resources
PRADAN: is a voluntary organization registered under the Societies Registration Act of India. Established in Delhi in
1983, PRADAN was pioneered by a group of young professionals, all of whom were inspired by the conviction that indi-
viduals with knowledge resources and empathy for the marginalized must work with communities at the grassroots in
order to help them overcome poverty.

ADATS: is a secular Non Government Organization (NGO) working with 38,419 small and poor peasant families in 913
villages of the 5 taluks of Chickballapur district, Karnataka, in South India for the past 31 years, since 14 December 1977.

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public is a nonprofit organization supporting the field of social entrepreneurship. Ashoka was
founded by Bill Drayton in 1981 to identify and support leading social entrepreneurs through a Social Venture Capital
approach with the goal of elevating the citizen sector to a competitive level equal to the business sector. The organization
currently operates in over 70 countries and supports the work of over 2,000 social entrepreneurs, elected as Ashoka Fel-
lows . Ashoka also creates mosaics of best practices that map the commonalities and intersections of key principles that
guide Fellows’ individual solutions. Ashoka’s initiatives include Changemakers, Youth Venture, and Full Economic Citi-
zenship.

livelihoods June 2011 31

 Story

Friendship Forever
Once upon a time there lived two great friends in a hamlet near Jaipur. Jay and Vijay had been friends since their
childhood. Now they were studying in a college, which was at far distance from their place. In the way they had to cross a
river, pass hills and sandy area too. They used to go to college together. Their friendship was famous in college.
One rainy day the two friends set out for college as usual. They were chatting while walking. Perhaps they were
discussing some point of atomic theory which was taught on previous day. The two had different opinions. There began
heated arguments. This was followed by abusive language by both sides. Things got so bad that in a fit of anger Jay
slapped Vijay. Shell shocked Vijay stared at his friend and wrote on sand that “today my best friend slapped me.” Both
resumed their walk but now they were silent. Meanwhile they reached the river which was overflowing today. Vijay was
not a good swimmer. He stepped into the river but began to drown and flow with force of water in the direction of the
flood. Jay saw this and without thinking for a second jumped into the river. With difficulty he could drag Vijay out of the
river. He helped Vijay restore his normal breath. When Vijay became normal, he wrote on a hill that “today my best friend
saved my life.”

Jay who was observing all this could not help asking “why did you write it on sand when I slapped you and why are you
writing on the hill when I’ve saved your life?” Vijay replied that “we should soon forget wrong done by our friends and
dear ones as writing on sand gets erased in no time, but if they do something good for us we should always remember
their kindness just as writing on stones is for ever.” Saying this Vijay hugged his friends and two wend to college as if
nothing had happened.

32 June 2011 livelihoods

 Trends and Statistics

Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

MPI States Population MPI Propor- Average Contribu- Number of MPI
(in mil- tion of Intensity tion to in Poor(in mil-
lions) 2007 poor overall lions)
Poverty
-- India 1,164.70 0.296 55.40% 53.50% -- 645
1 Kerala 35 0.065 15.90% 40.90% 0.60% 5.6
2 Goa 1.6 0.094 21.70% 43.40% 0.00% 0.4

3 Punjab 27.1 0.12 26.20% 46.00% 1.00% 7.1

4 Himachal Pradesh 6.7 0.131 31.00% 42.30% 0.30% 2.1

5 Tamil Nadu 68 0.141 32.40% 42.30% 2.60% 22

6 Uttaranchal 9.6 0.189 40.30% 42.30% 0.50% 3.9

7 Maharashtra 108.7 0.193 40.10% 42.30% 6.00% 43.6

8 Haryana 24.1 0.199 41.60% 42.30% 1.30% 10

9 Gujarat 57.3 0.205 41.50% 42.30% 3.40% 23.8

10 JammuAndKashmir 12.2 0.209 43.80% 42.30% 0.70% 5.4

11 Andhra Pradesh 83.9 0.211 44.70% 42.30% 5.10% 37.5

12 Karnataka 58.6 0.223 46.10% 42.30% 4.20% 27

13 Eastern Indian States 44.2 0.303 57.60% 42.30% 4.00% 25.5

14 West Bengal 89.5 0.317 58.30% 42.30% 8.50% 52.2

15 Orissa 40.7 0.345 64.00% 42.30% 4.30% 26

16 Rajasthan 65.4 0.351 64.20% 42.30% 7.00% 41.9

17 Uttar Pradesh 192.6 0.386 69.90% 42.30% 21.30% 134.7

18 Chhattisgarh 23.9 0.387 71.90% 42.30% 2.90% 17.2

19 Madhya Pradesh 70 0.389 69.50% 42.30% 8.50% 48.6

20 Jharkhand 30.5 0.463 77.00% 42.30% 4.20% 23.5

21 Bihar 95 0.499 81.40% 42.30% 13.50% 77.3
A study by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative using a Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) found
that there were 645 million poor living under the MPI in India, 421 million of whom are concentrated in eight North Indian
and East Indian states of Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West
Bengal. This number is higher than the 410 million poor living in the 26 poorest African nations. The states are listed
below in increasing order of poverty based on the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index.

livelihoods June 2011 33

 Contrasts

Soda Stop

Shining Livelihoods

Shoe Polish

Declining Livelihoods

34 June 2011 livelihoods

 ‘Yoga’kshemam
Welcome to Rains! They are still coming! change effort.
Missed watching the longest lunar eclipse of the century Penelope Trunk, gives tips for remaining relevant when we
directly because of the clouds! Had to be satisfied with are over 40 - generally people hit a peak in fifteen years
seeing on the television! and payment for experience beyond fifteen years is not
significant; therefore, to remain relevant and continue to
We also miss Dr Raj Arole (Jamkhed fame)! increase our value, we have to learn skills outside of our
There was some activity for World Environment Day (5 past/present fields; these skills include – using social
June) and Fathers’ Day (19 June). media including web presence and blogging and building
community around us, processing and synthesizing
As usual, other International Days passed – International information faster, better and in collaborative ways
Children’s Day (1 June), World Day Against Child Labour (remember that we are in the knowledge market), building
(12 June), World Blood Donor Day (14 June), World Elder bridges by working with wide range of people with wider
Abuse Awareness Day (15 June), World Day to Combat set of skills and remaining in touch with them socially and
Desertification and Drought (17 June), World Music Day professionally, managing our personal brand with a sense
(21 June), and UN Public Service Day (23 June). of who we are, what we do and what is unique about us
We await Doctors’ Day (1 July), International Day of and articulate, and committing to being open, life-long
Cooperatives (2 July) and International Cooperative Day (7 learning, quick adaptability to shifts in market and
July), Writers’ Day (8 July) and World Population Day (11 communicating the same. Let us not forget that we are in
July). the business of influencing the dynamic knowledge market
(s).
Still immersed in institutions of poor! Lost in the thought
pursuit of reducing knowledge middlemen! Youth lens, When we are writing for action, there are few things that
knowledge workers and young professionals, community- have to be kept in mind, I understand now (courtesy -
owned microfinance+, convergence, knowledge and David Silverman) –
learning channels are dominating our working space.
∗ One paragraph, one point of view;
Efforts towards writing the report of the
working group of planning commission on ∗ One sentence, one idea;
National Rural Livelihoods Mission are
still to pick up momentum.
G Muralidhar ∗ We have to tell the focus in the first
sentence (or in the title or a subject line
Finally, National Rural Livelihoods before the first sentence);
Mission has been officially/formally launched nationally on
3 June 2011 at Banswara in the presence of more than ∗ People do not read but scan – therefore, easy to read
100,000 women. It was a small item in the media. We hope titles, subject lines, headings, and bullet lists, are all
now it will pick up momentum in the country! helpful in getting across the message; and

India Against Corruption campaign(s) are settling down! ∗ We have to say what we mean to say. We cannot
Sathya Sai Trust is cracking. Telangana is warming up for expect anything to be inferred.
more fireworks in July. Chiranjeevi has quit cinema. UPA is Soul’s Flight towards blissful merger in the Soul of the
planning a Cabinet reshuffle. IMF gets a new boss. Universe, is possible with the flight itself by leaving
Examinations are over and Counseling is due. everything here and now. Like when you die. Leave things
When you are almost out of ‘life’, the reflection, realization of the world to the world. Leave things of the journey to the
and rekindled wisdom makes you aware of what you are journey. Forget what is right and what is wrong. Break free.
designed for and slows your flow and pushes you to Break free in the darkness. Break free from the veils, from
intense pursuit towards the design! When the innermost in the layers, from the chains and from the boxes. Leave
the design shows the design, there is no other way to be! everything aside and break free to fly off to be useful in
When the early mentors, associates and co-travelers come thoughts, words and deeds. Then, what you have is joy.
back to you to reinforce the original design, there is no Joy is in flying and joy is in merger.
other way to be! In the confluence of the souls, we are in
HelpAge India released a report "Elder abuse and crime in ‘vihangagamanam’ seeking and relishing
India" and it says - Nationally, daughter-in-law and son are sahagamanayogam with prakriti.
the major abusers of the elderly. The forms of abuse Can we be there? Yes, if we pursue Atma Yoga.
include showing disrespect, verbal abuse (speaking loudly, Relentless focus on flying hand in hand, for being in
using foul language, name calling, accusing and blaming), universal usefulness! Krshna confirms - any flying soul that
and physical abuse. Elders have accepted the abuse practices and pursues relentless flight becomes one with
passively with 98% not registering the complaint. prakriti and joins viswaatma.
Knowledge workers/activists in Development, Poverty Join us in the world of yoga – for the joyous flight of the
Reduction, Livelihoods and Environment domain, I gather innermost and viswaatama - towards
during the month, have to display a trinity of having the
humility, knowing the elephant and silent gradual system prakritisangamayogasiddhi. You will not regret it.

livelihoods June 2011 35

36 June 2011 livelihoods