How the other half lives in Delhi: 4 stories of poverty, crushed dreams
Most of the city’s poor are migrants — they constitute about 33% of the population of Delhi — who come to the city attracted by the promise of a secure livelihood and better life. But their hopes and dreams are, more often than not, belied. A peek into how they get by
Unity Is Strength
Last month, Delhi, the second wealthiest city in the country — with a total wealth of $450 billion according to the World Wealth Report — was shocked by the starvation deaths of three little girls aged 2, 6, and 8 years.
The girls’ father, who plied a rickshaw, was from West Bengal and moved to Delhi about 15 years ago. He hasn’t been found since the deaths, which medical experts have confirmed were caused by malnutrition. The mother was found to be mentally unstable.
Many find it unthinkable that anyone can starve to death in the capital. Such deaths may be rare, but facts tell a deeply disturbing story of poverty in the city of 17 million people. Almost 1.7 million live below the poverty line, or survive on less than RS 1,134 per month, according to the latest Delhi Statistical Handbook, which is based on 2011 census data. A 2015 report by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Delhi, said the city has about 6,343 slums with 1.02 million households.