Politics of Poverty – Finally, how much does that one meal cost?

“Statistics are like bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital” - Aaron Levenstein

There has been a lot of talk over the past few weeks about the cost of one meal. The current government representatives backed by eminent economists came up with various numbers and scenarios supporting their argument (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/minister-walks-into-rs-5-rs-12-meal-row-out-to-prove-rs-20-can-feed-8-people/1148278/ ) and received severe criticism by public. It seems like the debate is still on and the people are trying to find a way to justify the Rs 12 argument.  

This morning I got an email from a good friend supporting the 12 Rs argument and that I should read the following article by Swaminathan Aiyar about the topic

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Swaminomics/entry/how-much-does-a-poor-man-s-meal-cost

So, finally how much does that one meal cost?

Let us look at the profile of an average “poor man” in this country.  The person is a male (since Swaminathan chose male, I will go with that) making 295 Rs a day and working for 25 days a month. While providing various details on how this poor man can have a good meal for Rs 12, the article forgets the following few facts-

1. Availability of work is seasonal and hence the person borrows at a high interest to cover the living expenses for the low months
2. Daily wage promised to them would never be given to them on time (and not all of it).
3. Alcoholism and infidelity are huge issues in that demographic – both cost lot of money
4. Large family and expenses related to that – school, medical expenses, etc.

A livelihood cannot be just seen as feeding yourself 2 square meals a day. The need to take care of family members, medical costs, school costs need to be considered to think of some sense of security for the future.

I grew up in the late 70’s and 80’s as a teenager in a family of 8 (grandfather, parents, sisters and I) and my dad was an honest engineer with the state govt.  I remember days where we would wait till the morning of Diwali for our dad to arrive (working in a neighboring city) so that we could buy crackers and new clothes occasionally. My dad would arrive on the morning of the festival with borrowed money from the festival advance and take us for shopping. Most of the middle class spends their earnings on the 2^nd day of the month.  I am sure most of you have similar stories to tell and the state of economically lower classes is even worse. Our driver bought rice, pulses, wheat, kerosene, etc. at a market price for 2 years because he couldn’t get a ration card due to corruption and atrocities by his local corporator.  So, as the quote above suggests, numbers don’t reveal everything.

Politicians and intellectuals should consider the spirit behind the public uproar and not worry about the actual cost of the meal as it is very context dependent. People are upset about their lives being trivialized with simple economics without considering that context. We shouldn’t look at the poor with a pair of mathematical lenses but should empathize with them instead.   Government’s brazen attempts to cover up its lack of ideas for solving the core issues is despicable and humiliating the section of people who are already hurting.  So, let us please end this debate about the final cost of the meal as no one other than the planning commission cares.  The more we dissect this issue the more we tell the poor man that we don’t understand his context. We need solutions not statistics.