Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 05, 2008
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Monday, May 05, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Tamil Nadu
A. Pandian. His cup of tea cheers up people at offices twice a day. But life ahead looks scary for A. Pandian (36). He makes a living by selling tea at a number of offices in the city. His case is typical of unorganised sector workers who battle it out for a decent living in the face of rising prices. Hailing from Madurai and residing at Ganapathy in the city with his wife and two children, Mr. Pandian supplies tea to nearly 275 people in five offices. The amount of beverage he sells has remained the same over the last two to three years. Those who await his tea and the offices that have engaged him do not entertain the idea of increasing the price of a cup of tea or coffee as they too have been hit by soaring prices. Mr. Pandian is stumped by the soaring prices of commodities, especially the ingredients needed for the tea and coffee he sells. Only after much persuasion, he had been able to raise the cost for a cup to Rs.3 six months ago. But, any attempt at increasing it again will bring down the number of cups sold every day, he says. The price of milk which was at Rs.18 a litre has gone up to Rs.24. He earns Rs.22,000 a month. The cost of milk, sugar, tea/coffee powder and fuel expense cost around Rs.12,000. This leaves him with only Rs.10,000 for family expenses. Thanks to his wife’s brother being employed overseas, the education of his seven-year-old son Praveen Sivam is taken care of. But, this expense too will come up as the second child, Danushri (18 months), starts going to school. “Medical care for the children already takes away Rs.500,” he says. After setting aside Rs.5,000 for the house-hold expenses and sending Rs.1,000 to his parents at his home town in Madurai, Mr. Pandian struggles to pull on. Going out for a movie and eating at a hotel are rare, he says. Non-vegetarian food is managed with great difficulty once a week. Whatever money remains after all these expenses is saved to repay a debt of Rs. 2 lakh borrowed for buying a small piece of land for a “dream home”.
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