The income difference in India

Delhi, the city I live in, is in the grip of a cold wave these days. It’s the third week of December and it’s really very cold here. The other day, I happened to talk with two guys who work as Parking Assistants in Delhi Metro. Their job is to manage the parking of vehicles (mostly two wheelers and cars) in the parking zone of Delhi Metro. It is not an easy job. I casually asked them about their timings and remuneration. They told me that they were not permanent worker there. They work under a contractor on just Rs. 100 a day. There are no holidays and taking an off from work means loss of a day’s income. Their work starts from 9 AM in the morning and finished after 12 hours at 9 PM. For this entire duration of 12 hours they remain in the parking area where there are no shade and no arrangement for any heater/ warmer.

In this chilling weather of Delhi, these people are doing such a tough job for a small sum of Rs.100 a day. If they work for 26 days ( excluding Sundays) their monthly income comes out to be just Rs. 2600. Seeing it from a dollar perspective, they are earning just $2.5 a day or $ 65 a month ! Most of them are sole bread earner of their family. With no social safety like insurance with them, it is just a battle of survival for them. Surviving on daily basis. Fighting everyday, doing all they can to earn $2.5 a day and support their families.

This is the situation of Delhi, the capital city of India. And I know this is not an isolated case. Their are thousands and thousands of people in Delhi who are earning a paltry sum of $2.5 a day (or even lesser). This is a stark reality of India. The picture is even worse in villages. You can yourself make a guess given the fact that still more than 70% of India lives in village.

On the other hand, I also see Indians who are earning $1000 a day from the Internet right from the comfort of their home. However, I feel that these people are among very lucky fews in India. As per this report, only 3.7% of the entire population of India use Internet.

When I see such a huge difference in the income of my fellow countrymen, the talks of an Indian(Mukesh Ambani to be precise) soon becoming the richest person in the world loose it’s relevance. We as citizens, as Government and as a nation have to go a very very long way before we can truly call ourselves a developed country.

I am thinking to start a simple tutorial series to educate people about income opportunities on Internet. Your valuable suggestions on this are welcome.

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