Chaman weaves a cane basket
Urban poverty levels in Maharashtra dropped by a massive 47 per cent in 2011-2012, according to the latest poverty estimates by the Planning Commission.
According to a Planning Commission report, last year there were over 47 lakh BPL (Below the Poverty Line) persons in Maharashtra as compared to nearly 91 lakh in 2010.
During the same period 2011-12, the all India urban poverty level dropped by 31 per cent.
While many have questioned the methodology to calculate the below poverty line, others say this whopping reduction is possible.
"The numbers are right. The economy of Maharashtra is one of the fastest growing economies and since growth is fuelled by industries and service sector based mostly out of urban Maharashtra, it stands to reason that poverty levels here have dropped," explained Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings.
But the impact of this decline is simply not visible on the streets of Mumbai where the numbers of poor only seem to have ballooned.
Chaman, a basket seller, has been living on a street just outside suburban Mahim's railway station. He earns Rs 300 a day weaving baskets of cane which has to support his family of five. For a home, he only has a plastic sheet and wears rags for clothes. Sometimes he even goes to bed hungry. But because he makes more than Rs 33 a day, he is not categorised as "poor".
Chaman laughs when told this. He counters, "How much will Rs 300 stretch in a family of five? So many things to pay for, kids' clothes, education, illnesses. Rs 300 are not enough. The government is deluded when it says the poor earn enough."
But for people like Chaman, living life on the fringe of deprivation, the statistical decline in urban poverty means nothing at all.
For them, simply getting two meals a day is still a daily battle.