Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Google

Tamil Nadu
Nxg
 News: ePaper | Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Retail Plus | Classifieds | Jobs | Obituary |



Tamil Nadu Printer Friendly Page   Send this Article to a Friend

At Ground Zero, the reality is depressing

R. Sujatha

THOSE THAT ARE LEFT OUT Although the PDS covers most people in Tamil Nadu, two important sections left out are the pavement dwellers and migrant workers. In both cases, this is because of a lack of fixed place of residence. It is not clear how many such people are left out, but the numbers are at least a couple of million. Below, two stories about how pavement dwellers and migrant workers cope with being outside the safety net.

Photo: R. ragu

A family on Athithanar salai.

Kamala, Ponnammal, Sivakami and Sathya all have something in common… they have been living on the city’s pavements for years.

While Kamala (70) took to the pavement on Karpagambal Nagar in Luz after an accident in which a scooterist knocked her down and broke her right leg five years ago, Ponnammal and the others have been living on the pavement outside the office of the Che nnai Police Mounted Branch on Adithanar Salai in Egmore for at least 15 years.

All of them say they need a house before can they even think of getting a ration card.

Kamala depends on the kindness of householders in the area to make a living. Staff of a hotel in the locality where she worked for 35 years, give her some food. A neighbour offers her tea.

Kamala has two daughters who live in rented accommodation. Her grandchildren visit her sometimes. A postman delivers her old age pension of Rs. 400 each month. She helps out her children by giving them money occasionally. She has to rely on her meagre income to buy medicines for cough and cold. Ponnammal (65) has seven children, four of whom live with her on the pavement in Egmore. Her youngest son drives a motorised tricycle and earns Rs. 50 a day.

They buy rice for Rs. 15 a kg, some fish and vegetables such as onion and tomato, which they cook on a makeshift stone stove on the pavement.

Ponnammal is a rag-picker, and none of her children has been to school. Three of her daughters have young children and two of them have been deserted by their husbands.

Her granddaughter, Sathya, works as a domestic help and earns Rs. 600 a month. Sathya’s husband is a headload worker and earns Rs. 150 on a good day.

The family spends Rs. 80 a day on food. When they fall ill, they go to a hospital run by the Indian Red Cross Society. Sathya is now pregnant, and visits the Egmore Maternity hospital for check-ups.

The family used to see the occasional movie, paying Rs. 30 for a ticket. This has now become an impossibility.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News: ePaper | Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Retail Plus | Classifieds | Jobs | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |




News Update

The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription
Group Sites: The Hindu | The Hindu ePaper | Business Line | Business Line ePaper | Sportstar | Frontline | Publications | eBooks | Images | Home |

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu