<p>Amidst the excitement and controversy over demonetisation and GST, and the earlier noise over flagship policies such as Make in India, an urgent issue has slipped through the cracks. That issue is, the extent of poverty in India, and what to do about it. India&rsquo;s poor performance on the recently published Global Hunger Index has been in the news last week.</p>

<p>This, taken together with the occasion of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17), is a good time to take stock of what is going on with poverty. The poverty issue has been overshadowed in recent years by the jobs issue. The two are related. Lack of decent jobs means lack of good incomes, which in turn means poverty. So in some ways, it is good that we are now talking about the root of the problem, the failure to create an adequate number of decent livelihoods. But this should not make us lose sight of the consumption side of poverty.</p>

<p>The first point worth noting is that reliable nationwide statistics on what economists call the poverty headcount ratio (the percentage of Indians spending less per day than the poverty line) are not available after 2011. This is because 2011-2012 is the last year that we have large sample consumption-expenditure data from surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey Organization.</p>

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<h5>In India poverty should be measured in terms of rupees spent only, or if there should be an attempt to analyse whether basic needs are being met.</h5>
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<p>As per this data 22 <span style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span> per cent of Indians lived in poverty in 2011, spending less than INR 27 per day in rural areas and less than INR 33 per day in urban areas. However, in 2009-2010 the NSSO also started experimenting with a different method of surveying people&rsquo;s spending habits. This method gives a poverty rate of 12.4 per cent in 2011-2012. A 2015 <a href="http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/109701443800596288/PRN03Oct2015TwinGoals.pdf">World Bank report</a> explains the differences in method.</p>

<p>So much for the headline statistics. Let us get into some more pertinent details. The poverty issue goes much beyond the poverty rate and the poverty line. India is not doing badly as far as a strict interpretation of poverty line goes. But as the <a href="http://nceuis.nic.in/condition_of_workers_sep_2007.pdf">Arjun Sengupta commission</a> showed nearly ten years ago, if we look at those who spend just a little more than the official poverty line (still a very low level of consumption), that percentage can be very high.</p>

<p>The figure that caught the nation&rsquo;s imagination was that 77 per cent of the population had a per capita daily consumption of INR 20 or less in 2005. The basic problem remains even today. Focusing only on the poverty line is dangerous because many people may hover right above it and they will not be any less poor in substantive terms than those just under it.</p>

<p>Second, there is a long-standing debate in India over whether poverty should be measured in terms of rupees spent only, or if there should be an attempt to analyse whether basic needs are being met. To those who have been paying to this debate, India&rsquo;s dismal performance on the Global Hunger Index does not come as a surprise.</p>

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<h5>Many people are cutting down on food and spending on other things instead.</h5>
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<p>For some years now, we have known that merely measuring daily spending adjusted for inflation is not a good way to estimate poverty, especially when nutrition is taken into consideration. What has been happening is that people are spending more money in real terms but that money is going to non-food necessities such as healthcare, education, transportation, and other services.</p>

<p>To put it another way, incomes have risen slowly for the poor while the need to consume non-food items mentioned above has become more and more compelling. The result: many are cutting down on food and spending on other things instead.</p>

<p>This much is known, indeed too well known. The question, as always, is what can be done about it. Here two recent ideas are worth exploring. One from the employment side and one from the consumption side: wage subsidies and universal basic services.</p>

<p>Last week the BJP government in Gujarat announced an interesting policy measure as an electoral promise. In addition to promising investments of around INR 20,000 crore in the garment sector to create one lakh jobs it also promised to pay a sizeable portion of the wages of the newly hired workers for a period of five years.</p>

<p>I have discussed in an <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/minimum-wage-wage-subsidy-is-the-solution-to-income-disparity-5949">earlier column</a>, the idea that the government can subsidise wages in the private sector in order to raise incomes or stimulate employment. It has also been discussed in the context of an extension of the current MGNREGA program. The bigger picture is if the government offers various forms of capital subsidies (like tax exemptions, land, lower interest rates etc.) why not wage subsidies?</p>

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<h5>Instead of giving people income grants and letting them purchase services in the market, the State should provide basic needs such as education, health, and housing free of cost.</h5>
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<p>The concept of universal basic services (UBS) has a long history but has recently been floated as an alternative to universal basic income (UBI) in developed countries. UBI has been discussed extensively in India as well (for e.g. see this year&rsquo;s Economic Survey). The UBS proposal is that instead of giving people income grants and letting them purchase services in the market, the State should provide basic needs such as education, health, and housing free of cost. This is a generalisation of existing public provisioning via the Public Distribution System (PDS) and various other schemes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Of course many will object to such a program seeing in it a return to the &ldquo;bad only days&rdquo; of socialism and fiscal irresponsibility. The problem is that the &ldquo;good new days&rdquo; have been good only for a minority and this does not seem to be changing. If we take a look at the budgets of not only the poor but as much as half of the population, we are likely to find that the above-mentioned items account for most of the spending.</p>

<p>Universal public health, education, and housing will go a long way in alleviating pressure on people&rsquo;s budgets freeing up resources for better nutrition. Not only that it will give them much-needed room to take risks with employment, skill development as well as entrepreneurship. Further, provisioning of such services will create much-needed employment since these happen to be difficult to mechanise.</p>

<p>Overall the decline in poverty numbers till 2011 (and most likely these have declined further by now, though we don&rsquo;t have data), suggests that it is the time we stopped worrying purely about expenditure-based poverty lines and focused instead on providing basic services and raising incomes at the bottom.</p>


Job creation and providing basic services like healthcare, education will tackle poverty in India

Amidst the excitement and controversy over demonetisation and GST, and the earlier noise over flagship policies such as Make in India, an urgent issue has slipped through the cracks. That issue is, the extent of poverty in India, and what to do about it. India’s poor performance on the recently published Global Hunger Index has been in the news last week. This, taken together with the occasion of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17), is a good time to take stock of what is going on with poverty. The poverty issue has been overshadowed in recent years by the jobs issue. The two are related. Lack of decent jobs means lack of good incomes, which in turn means poverty. So in some ways, it is good that we are now talking about the root of the problem, the failure to create an adequate number of decent livelihoods. But this should not make us lose sight of the consumption side of poverty. The first point worth noting is that reliable nationwide statistics on what economists call the poverty headcount ratio (the percentage of Indians spending less per day than the poverty line) are not available after 2011. This is because 2011-2012 is the last year that we have large sample consumption-expenditure data from surveys carried out by the National Sample Survey Organization. In India poverty should be measured in terms of rupees spent only, or if there should be an attempt to analyse whether basic needs are being met. × As per this data 22 per cent of Indians lived in poverty in 2011, spending less than INR 27 per day in rural areas and less than INR 33 per day in urban areas. However, in 2009-2010 the NSSO also started experimenting with a different method of surveying people’s spending habits. This method gives a poverty rate of 12.4 per cent in 2011-2012. A 2015 World Bank report explains the differences in method. So much for the headline statistics. Let us get into some more pertinent details. The poverty issue goes much beyond the poverty rate and the poverty line. India is not doing badly as far as a strict interpretation of poverty line goes. But as the Arjun Sengupta commission showed nearly ten years ago, if we look at those who spend just a little more than the official poverty line (still a very low level of consumption), that percentage can be very high. The figure that caught the nation’s imagination was that 77 per cent of the population had a per capita daily consumption of INR 20 or less in 2005. The basic problem remains even today. Focusing only on the poverty line is dangerous because many people may hover right above it and they will not be any less poor in substantive terms than those just under it. Second, there is a long-standing debate in India over whether poverty should be measured in terms of rupees spent only, or if there should be an attempt to analyse whether basic needs are being met. To those who have been paying to this debate, India’s dismal performance on the Global Hunger Index does not come as a surprise. Many people are cutting down on food and spending on other things instead. × For some years now, we have known that merely measuring daily spending adjusted for inflation is not a good way to estimate poverty, especially when nutrition is taken into consideration. What has been happening is that people are spending more money in real terms but that money is going to non-food necessities such as healthcare, education, transportation, and other services. To put it another way, incomes have risen slowly for the poor while the need to consume non-food items mentioned above has become more and more compelling. The result: many are cutting down on food and spending on other things instead. This much is known, indeed too well known. The question, as always, is what can be done about it. Here two recent ideas are worth exploring. One from the employment side and one from the consumption side: wage subsidies and universal basic services. Last week the BJP government in Gujarat announced an interesting policy measure as an electoral promise. In addition to promising investments of around INR 20,000 crore in the garment sector to create one lakh jobs it also promised to pay a sizeable portion of the wages of the newly hired workers for a period of five years. I have discussed in an earlier column, the idea that the government can subsidise wages in the private sector in order to raise incomes or stimulate employment. It has also been discussed in the context of an extension of the current MGNREGA program. The bigger picture is if the government offers various forms of capital subsidies (like tax exemptions, land, lower interest rates etc.) why not wage subsidies? Instead of giving people income grants and letting them purchase services in the market, the State should provide basic needs such as education, health, and housing free of cost. × The concept of universal basic services (UBS) has a long history but has recently been floated as an alternative to universal basic income (UBI) in developed countries. UBI has been discussed extensively in India as well (for e.g. see this year’s Economic Survey). The UBS proposal is that instead of giving people income grants and letting them purchase services in the market, the State should provide basic needs such as education, health, and housing free of cost. This is a generalisation of existing public provisioning via the Public Distribution System (PDS) and various other schemes. Of course many will object to such a program seeing in it a return to the “bad only days” of socialism and fiscal irresponsibility. The problem is that the “good new days” have been good only for a minority and this does not seem to be changing. If we take a look at the budgets of not only the poor but as much as half of the population, we are likely to find that the above-mentioned items account for most of the spending. Universal public health, education, and housing will go a long way in alleviating pressure on people’s budgets freeing up resources for better nutrition. Not only that it will give them much-needed room to take risks with employment, skill development as well as entrepreneurship. Further, provisioning of such services will create much-needed employment since these happen to be difficult to mechanise. Overall the decline in poverty numbers till 2011 (and most likely these have declined further by now, though we don’t have data), suggests that it is the time we stopped worrying purely about expenditure-based poverty lines and focused instead on providing basic services and raising incomes at the bottom.

Poverty in India: Measurement and eradication

Religious conflict takes the third place right after corruption and poverty in the list of pressing problems affecting India, claims a survey.<br />
<br />
The WEF&#39;s Global Shapers Annual Survey 2016 says that around 49.6 per cent of respondents in India believe government accountability and transparency/corruption is a serious issues affecting the country.<br />
<br />
While 39.7 per cent of respondents believe the most pressing problem is poverty, 32.7 per cent believe it is religious conflict and 31.1 per cent say it is the lack of education.<br />
<br />
According to a PTI report, the global survey, that studies thoughts, priorities and concerns of young people around the world, has so far covered more than 26,000 participants across 181 countries.<br />
<br />
At the global level, for the second year in a row, climate change is being rated as the most serious issue, followed by large-scale conflicts, religious conflicts and poverty.<br />
<br />
Respondets held themselves responsible of tackling local challenges (26 per cent), followed by governments (20 per cent) and civil society (17 per cent).<br />
<br />
For global challenges, people trusted international organisations (26 per cent) and themselves again (20 per cent).<br />
<br />
The survey also pointed towards the optimism around technology, with 86 per cent of respondents globally believing that technology will eventually be a driver of job growth.<br />
<br />
Discussing sectors of growth, 24.7 per cent Indian respondents said agriculture would benfit most from technology, followed by government (17.3 per cent) and education (16 per cent).<br />
<br />
The biggest contribution from the private sector is job creation (36 per cent) and economic development/foreign investment, with 20 per cent of respondents choosing that option.<br />
<br />
When it comes to their own careers, millennials are looking for jobs that provide a fair salary (54 per cent), a growth perspective (45 per cent) and a sense of purpose (36 per cent).<br />
<br />
(WION with inputs from agencies)

Corruption and poverty took the first two places, according to respondents of the survey

Religious conflict takes the third place right after corruption and poverty in the list of pressing problems affecting India, claims a survey. The WEF's Global Shapers Annual Survey 2016 says that around 49.6 per cent of respondents in India believe government accountability and transparency/corruption is a serious issues affecting the country. While 39.7 per cent of respondents believe the most pressing problem is poverty, 32.7 per cent believe it is religious conflict and 31.1 per cent say it is the lack of education. According to a PTI report, the global survey, that studies thoughts, priorities and concerns of young people around the world, has so far covered more than 26,000 participants across 181 countries. At the global level, for the second year in a row, climate change is being rated as the most serious issue, followed by large-scale conflicts, religious conflicts and poverty. Respondets held themselves responsible of tackling local challenges (26 per cent), followed by governments (20 per cent) and civil society (17 per cent). For global challenges, people trusted international organisations (26 per cent) and themselves again (20 per cent). The survey also pointed towards the optimism around technology, with 86 per cent of respondents globally believing that technology will eventually be a driver of job growth. Discussing sectors of growth, 24.7 per cent Indian respondents said agriculture would benfit most from technology, followed by government (17.3 per cent) and education (16 per cent). The biggest contribution from the private sector is job creation (36 per cent) and economic development/foreign investment, with 20 per cent of respondents choosing that option. When it comes to their own careers, millennials are looking for jobs that provide a fair salary (54 per cent), a growth perspective (45 per cent) and a sense of purpose (36 per cent). (WION with inputs from agencies)

Religious conflict third-most pressing issue in India: Survey

Myanmar`s Aung San Suu Kyi arrives today in Thailand where she is expected to be garlanded by her adoring compatriots, hundreds of thousands of whom have sought work and sanctuary from war across the border.<br />
<br />
It is Suu Kyi`s highest profile overseas visit since her pro-democracy party took power in April, ending nearly half a century of military domination.<br />
<br />
Her government has seeded hopes for a new era of prosperity that could eventually convince the army of low-paid Myanmar labourers in Thailand to return home.<br />
<br />
The two Southeast Asian neighbours have travelled in starkly different directions in recent years.<br />
<br />
While Myanmar`s junta has rolled back its chokehold on politics, last year allowing the freest elections in decades, Thailand remains in the grip of a military that seized power in 2014.<br />
<br />
As Myanmar`s democracy champion, Suu Kyi is expected to receive a rock star welcome during a visit to a fishing village in Samut Sakhon later Thursday.<br />
<br />
The port, just outside Bangkok, is the seat of Thailand`s huge seafood industry and home to more than 100,000 low-paid Myanmar labourers.<br />
<br />
The visit &quot;fills me with hope,&quot; Myanmar migrant Thon Barami, 50, told AFP at the scruffy port.<br />
<br />
&quot;We have problems here in Thailand. She might help us with labour rights... people all around the world will listen to her,&quot; she added.<br />
<br />
The fishing sector has been battered by revelations of the use of slave labour and the widespread exploitation of workers.<br />
<br />
The scandals have prompted threats of sanctions by the European Union -- a key market for the multi-billion-dollar Thai seafood<br />
industry.<br />
<br />
Seeking to escape poverty at home, some one million registered Myanmar migrant workers form the backbone of Thailand`s manual workforce.<br />
<br />
Tens of thousands of others work illegally, with some estimates putting the total number of Myanmar nationals in Thailand at three million.<br />
<br />
Rights groups say migrants -- legal and otherwise -- are vulnerable to unscrupulous officials, trafficking gangs and employment agencies who charge huge sums to get them poorly paid work.<br />
<br />
Their low status also sees them treated with scorn and mistrust by many Thais.<br />
<br />
&quot;They all want to go home, but they are just waiting for the economic situation (in Myanmar) to improve significantly,&quot; explained Andy Hall, a migrant rights activist with an office in the port town.<br />
<br />
The nemesis of Myanmar`s generals throughout a quarter-century of struggle for democracy, the Nobel laureate will meet with the leader of the Thai junta in Bangkok on Friday.<br />
<br />
But her schedule does not include a single press conference as Suu Kyi continues to fiercely control her government`s messaging.<br />
<br />
The 71-year-old is officially Myanmar`s foreign minister and state counsellor, but also the de facto leader of her country despite a military-era constitution that bars her from the presidency.<br />
<br />
It is unclear if she will make a scheduled trip to a refugee camp in Ratchaburi province on Saturday.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
It is one of nearly a dozen camps in Thailand holding more than 100,000 refugees who have fled conflict in Myanmar.&nbsp;Many are ethnic Karen displaced by war with Myanmar`s army. The violence abated following a 2012 ceasefire, but conflict with other ethnic rebel groups continues.<br />
<br />
Thailand, which does not accept refugees, wants to repatriate camp residents -- some of whom have been born on Thai soil but are barred from citizenship.<br />
<br />
Suu Kyi is also not scheduled to visit any of the Thai centres holding hundreds of Rohingya boat migrants, a Muslim group who have fled poverty and persecution in western Myanmar.<br />
<br />
Campaigners say her failure to throw her moral weight behind the stateless minority is a boon to Myanmar`s Buddhist hardliners who loathe the Rohingya and say they are illegal immigrants.<br />
<br />
In a sign of the sensitivity clouding the Rohingya question, a talk at the Foreign Correspondents` Club in Bangkok just ahead of Suu Kyi`s arrival was cancelled on military orders.<br />
<br />
(AFP)

Seeking to escape poverty at home, some one million registered Myanmar migrant workers form the backbone of Thailand's manual workforce

Myanmar`s Aung San Suu Kyi arrives today in Thailand where she is expected to be garlanded by her adoring compatriots, hundreds of thousands of whom have sought work and sanctuary from war across the border. It is Suu Kyi`s highest profile overseas visit since her pro-democracy party took power in April, ending nearly half a century of military domination. Her government has seeded hopes for a new era of prosperity that could eventually convince the army of low-paid Myanmar labourers in Thailand to return home. The two Southeast Asian neighbours have travelled in starkly different directions in recent years. While Myanmar`s junta has rolled back its chokehold on politics, last year allowing the freest elections in decades, Thailand remains in the grip of a military that seized power in 2014. As Myanmar`s democracy champion, Suu Kyi is expected to receive a rock star welcome during a visit to a fishing village in Samut Sakhon later Thursday. The port, just outside Bangkok, is the seat of Thailand`s huge seafood industry and home to more than 100,000 low-paid Myanmar labourers. The visit "fills me with hope," Myanmar migrant Thon Barami, 50, told AFP at the scruffy port. "We have problems here in Thailand. She might help us with labour rights... people all around the world will listen to her," she added. The fishing sector has been battered by revelations of the use of slave labour and the widespread exploitation of workers. The scandals have prompted threats of sanctions by the European Union -- a key market for the multi-billion-dollar Thai seafood industry. Seeking to escape poverty at home, some one million registered Myanmar migrant workers form the backbone of Thailand`s manual workforce. Tens of thousands of others work illegally, with some estimates putting the total number of Myanmar nationals in Thailand at three million. Rights groups say migrants -- legal and otherwise -- are vulnerable to unscrupulous officials, trafficking gangs and employment agencies who charge huge sums to get them poorly paid work. Their low status also sees them treated with scorn and mistrust by many Thais. "They all want to go home, but they are just waiting for the economic situation (in Myanmar) to improve significantly," explained Andy Hall, a migrant rights activist with an office in the port town. The nemesis of Myanmar`s generals throughout a quarter-century of struggle for democracy, the Nobel laureate will meet with the leader of the Thai junta in Bangkok on Friday. But her schedule does not include a single press conference as Suu Kyi continues to fiercely control her government`s messaging. The 71-year-old is officially Myanmar`s foreign minister and state counsellor, but also the de facto leader of her country despite a military-era constitution that bars her from the presidency. It is unclear if she will make a scheduled trip to a refugee camp in Ratchaburi province on Saturday. It is one of nearly a dozen camps in Thailand holding more than 100,000 refugees who have fled conflict in Myanmar. Many are ethnic Karen displaced by war with Myanmar`s army. The violence abated following a 2012 ceasefire, but conflict with other ethnic rebel groups continues. Thailand, which does not accept refugees, wants to repatriate camp residents -- some of whom have been born on Thai soil but are barred from citizenship. Suu Kyi is also not scheduled to visit any of the Thai centres holding hundreds of Rohingya boat migrants, a Muslim group who have fled poverty and persecution in western Myanmar. Campaigners say her failure to throw her moral weight behind the stateless minority is a boon to Myanmar`s Buddhist hardliners who loathe the Rohingya and say they are illegal immigrants. In a sign of the sensitivity clouding the Rohingya question, a talk at the Foreign Correspondents` Club in Bangkok just ahead of Suu Kyi`s arrival was cancelled on military orders. (AFP)

Myanmar's Suu Kyi visits troubled diaspora in Thailand

<p>Once upon a time in India, there was a girl who was promised a job and a better future but was sold instead as a bride to a family thousands of miles away from where she lived.</p>

<p>With a dearth of young women in the village, she entered a world where abductions, forced marriages and enslavement were acceptable methods of propagating family trees.</p>

<p>Her story is fact, not fiction. It is part&nbsp;of a new anthology of graphic non-fiction that has brought together over two dozen Indian writers,&nbsp;artists and illustrators to tell such stories of life in India through comics.</p>

<p>&quot;The medium of comics is fantastic for this. It allows readers to engage with characters, locations and circumstances, as if they were doing it first hand,&quot; said Vidyun Sabhaney, one of the editors of the anthology, First Hand.</p>

<p>Citing the example of Maus (Art&nbsp;Spiegelman), Palestine (Joe Sacco), Barefoot Gen (Keiji Nakazawa) and Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi), Sabhaney wrote in the preface, &quot;These books have been startlingly radical for readers not just because of the medium that they use but the stories that they chose to tell.&quot;</p>

<p>The project that began two years ago focuses on stories about migration and trafficking, poverty, caste and LGBT discrimination and the impact of environmental damage that often go unreported.</p>

<p>One powerful narrative in the book is about the young girl trafficked and sold as a bride.</p>

<p>&quot;In a trafficking situation graphic illustrations are all the more useful to give the reader a sense of the remote places people are trafficked from - with a different language, culture and practices - to the final destination which is completely unfamiliar and traumatising,&quot; Neha Dixit, author of the story &#39;Girl Not from Madras&#39;, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p>

<p>In another story,&nbsp;artist Ita Mehrotra explores the life of a woman she has known for a decade. Chetan is an overworked and underpaid construction worker in India&#39;s capital New Delhi</p>

<p>&quot;I felt through talking with her that she held a history of the city&#39;s past that was more real than others I have read - it was about how she and others actually built it from scratch,&quot; Mehrotra said.</p>

<p>Field research by environmental group Chintan is the basis for E-Waste Sutra, a story about &quot;urban gold diggers&quot; recycling electronic waste.</p>

<p>With data punctuating the narrative, the story is about young boys who use their bare hands to take apart&nbsp;machines and women who sit with magnets to pull out iron components.</p>

<p>&quot;A wise poet once said that the universe is made up of stories not atoms,&quot; editor Orijit Sen wrote in the preface of the book, the first of a planned series. &quot;That line has always stayed with me as one that beautifully captures the essential paradox of truth-telling in narration.&quot;</p>


The anthology called First Hand also talks of caste discrimination, migration, and environmental damage which often go unreported

Once upon a time in India, there was a girl who was promised a job and a better future but was sold instead as a bride to a family thousands of miles away from where she lived. With a dearth of young women in the village, she entered a world where abductions, forced marriages and enslavement were acceptable methods of propagating family trees. Her story is fact, not fiction. It is part of a new anthology of graphic non-fiction that has brought together over two dozen Indian writers, artists and illustrators to tell such stories of life in India through comics. "The medium of comics is fantastic for this. It allows readers to engage with characters, locations and circumstances, as if they were doing it first hand," said Vidyun Sabhaney, one of the editors of the anthology, First Hand. Citing the example of Maus (Art Spiegelman), Palestine (Joe Sacco), Barefoot Gen (Keiji Nakazawa) and Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi), Sabhaney wrote in the preface, "These books have been startlingly radical for readers not just because of the medium that they use but the stories that they chose to tell." The project that began two years ago focuses on stories about migration and trafficking, poverty, caste and LGBT discrimination and the impact of environmental damage that often go unreported. One powerful narrative in the book is about the young girl trafficked and sold as a bride. "In a trafficking situation graphic illustrations are all the more useful to give the reader a sense of the remote places people are trafficked from - with a different language, culture and practices - to the final destination which is completely unfamiliar and traumatising," Neha Dixit, author of the story 'Girl Not from Madras', told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In another story, artist Ita Mehrotra explores the life of a woman she has known for a decade. Chetan is an overworked and underpaid construction worker in India's capital New Delhi "I felt through talking with her that she held a history of the city's past that was more real than others I have read - it was about how she and others actually built it from scratch," Mehrotra said. Field research by environmental group Chintan is the basis for E-Waste Sutra, a story about "urban gold diggers" recycling electronic waste. With data punctuating the narrative, the story is about young boys who use their bare hands to take apart machines and women who sit with magnets to pull out iron components. "A wise poet once said that the universe is made up of stories not atoms," editor Orijit Sen wrote in the preface of the book, the first of a planned series. "That line has always stayed with me as one that beautifully captures the essential paradox of truth-telling in narration."

A comic book tells true stories about India's poverty, prejudice, and its trafficked girls

Instead of going to school, Walid and Ibrahim spend hours each day rummaging through houses destroyed in Gaza&#39;s wars in search of scrap to raise a few shekels for their families.<br />
<br />
They were once good students but Walid Maaruf, 11, and Ibrahim Ghaben, 12, had to quit school and earn a living when their fathers lost their jobs.<br />
<br />
Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fought three wars since 2008, including a devastating 50-day conflict in 2014 in the Mediterranean territory.<br />
<br />
Residents have lived under a punitive Israeli blockade imposed 10 years ago and their options are further limited by Egypt, which has largely kept its border with Gaza closed since 2013.<br />
<br />
Nearly half the enclave&#39;s 1.9 million inhabitants live under the poverty line, with 80 per cent surviving on humanitarian aid.<br />
<br />
Unemployment has risen dramatically to reach around 45 per cent -- one of the highest in the world -- forcing many children to become breadwinners.<br />
<br />
On Sunday, the International Labour Organization marks World Day Against Child Labour, an initiative that has seen the number of child labourers drop to 168 million from 246 million in 2000.<br />
<br />
But in Gaza the trend has been upward.<br />
<br />
According to Palestinian estimates, child labour has doubled over the past five years, with 9,700 children aged between 10 and 17 now working in the enclave.<br />
<br />
&quot;My father is unemployed, he used to gather stones and scrap metal... but now I work,&quot; said Ibrahim who earns about 20 shekels ($5) a day -- toiling six to 12 hours -- to feed his family of nine.<br />
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The boy, who looks much older than his age, said he and his father used to transport their find on a donkey-drawn cart, &quot;but the donkey died&quot;.<br />
<br />
All day long, often under a searing sun or howling wind, boys like Walid and Ibrahim scour flashpoint Beit Lahiya -- near the border fence with Israel in northern Gaza -- for scrap to sell to recycling firms.<br />
<br />
The area is attractive because of potential finds of lead from Israeli munitions.<br />
<br />
&quot;Most of the children who work do so in neighbourhoods along the border fence, and these are the poorest areas,&quot; said psychologist Aida Kassab from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.<br />
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&quot;Sometimes these children are only five and yet they are forced to do a job which is not appropriate for their age, their physical or psychological state,&quot; said Kassab.<br />
<br />
Akram Saeed, 14, said he spent years gathering scrap but now he wants a way out and would like to &quot;learn a useful skill&quot; to improve the condition of his four siblings and parents.<br />
<br />
Help came in the form of a Swiss children&#39;s relief agency, Terre des Hommes, which helps families send their children back to school or to attend vocational courses.<br />
<br />
&quot;The phenomenon of children who work reflects the economic and social situation of the Gaza Strip,&quot; said Khitam Abu Hamad, who represents the NGO in Gaza.<br />
<br />
&quot;There is no job market in Gaza,&quot; she said.<br />
<br />
Palestinian law bans children under 15 from working but &quot;it is rarely applied&quot;, said Iyad Abu Hujayr of the Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Conflict Resolution.<br />
<br />
He said enforcement has been hampered by divisions between the Islamist movement Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organisation which rules Gaza, and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.<br />
<br />
These divisions have also allowed abuse by some employers who often force children to work for 12 hours a day for as little as 20 shekels, he said.<br />
<br />
And the situation is far from improving, said Hyam al-Jarjawi, who is in charge of children&#39;s affairs at the Hamas-run ministry of social affairs.<br />
<br />
She said with each war &quot;there is more poverty, and the number of child labourers increases&quot;.

Child labour has doubled over the past five years, with 9,700 children aged between 10 and 17 working to feed their families

Instead of going to school, Walid and Ibrahim spend hours each day rummaging through houses destroyed in Gaza's wars in search of scrap to raise a few shekels for their families. They were once good students but Walid Maaruf, 11, and Ibrahim Ghaben, 12, had to quit school and earn a living when their fathers lost their jobs. Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fought three wars since 2008, including a devastating 50-day conflict in 2014 in the Mediterranean territory. Residents have lived under a punitive Israeli blockade imposed 10 years ago and their options are further limited by Egypt, which has largely kept its border with Gaza closed since 2013. Nearly half the enclave's 1.9 million inhabitants live under the poverty line, with 80 per cent surviving on humanitarian aid. Unemployment has risen dramatically to reach around 45 per cent -- one of the highest in the world -- forcing many children to become breadwinners. On Sunday, the International Labour Organization marks World Day Against Child Labour, an initiative that has seen the number of child labourers drop to 168 million from 246 million in 2000. But in Gaza the trend has been upward. According to Palestinian estimates, child labour has doubled over the past five years, with 9,700 children aged between 10 and 17 now working in the enclave. "My father is unemployed, he used to gather stones and scrap metal... but now I work," said Ibrahim who earns about 20 shekels ($5) a day -- toiling six to 12 hours -- to feed his family of nine. The boy, who looks much older than his age, said he and his father used to transport their find on a donkey-drawn cart, "but the donkey died". All day long, often under a searing sun or howling wind, boys like Walid and Ibrahim scour flashpoint Beit Lahiya -- near the border fence with Israel in northern Gaza -- for scrap to sell to recycling firms. The area is attractive because of potential finds of lead from Israeli munitions. "Most of the children who work do so in neighbourhoods along the border fence, and these are the poorest areas," said psychologist Aida Kassab from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. "Sometimes these children are only five and yet they are forced to do a job which is not appropriate for their age, their physical or psychological state," said Kassab. Akram Saeed, 14, said he spent years gathering scrap but now he wants a way out and would like to "learn a useful skill" to improve the condition of his four siblings and parents. Help came in the form of a Swiss children's relief agency, Terre des Hommes, which helps families send their children back to school or to attend vocational courses. "The phenomenon of children who work reflects the economic and social situation of the Gaza Strip," said Khitam Abu Hamad, who represents the NGO in Gaza. "There is no job market in Gaza," she said. Palestinian law bans children under 15 from working but "it is rarely applied", said Iyad Abu Hujayr of the Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Conflict Resolution. He said enforcement has been hampered by divisions between the Islamist movement Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organisation which rules Gaza, and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. These divisions have also allowed abuse by some employers who often force children to work for 12 hours a day for as little as 20 shekels, he said. And the situation is far from improving, said Hyam al-Jarjawi, who is in charge of children's affairs at the Hamas-run ministry of social affairs. She said with each war "there is more poverty, and the number of child labourers increases".

Wars and poverty force Gaza children to work

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, speaking in front of clucking chickens in a New York City skyscraper, announced plans on Wednesday to donate 100,000 chicks to poor nations in an effort to end extreme poverty.<br />
<br />
The chicks will go to rural areas in two dozen developing countries from Burkina Faso to Bolivia, where the Heifer International charity manages breeding operations and distribution, according to the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.<br />
<br />
Raising and selling chickens can lift families out of poverty, and a farmer breeding 250 chickens a year could make $1,250, said the Gates Foundation, which is partnering with the Heifer International charity.<br />
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&quot;There&#39;s no investment that has a return percentage anything like being able to breed chickens,&quot; said Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft.<br />
<br />
He urged the public to donate through Heifer International.<br />
<br />
&quot;The numbers today in terms of Americans who give to Heifer or things like that is actually quite small, so we&#39;d like to see that scaled up,&quot; Gates said.<br />
<br />
Referring to the proverb that teaching a man to fish will feed him for a lifetime, he said,&quot;The parable could have been stated in terms of giving somebody a chicken and showing them how to raise chickens.&quot;<br />
<br />
Gates said he aimed to boost household chicken ownership in places such as West Africa, where it is now 5 per cent, to 30 per cent.<br />
<br />
Gates made his announcement on the 68th floor of a new building at the World Trade Center, a site not typically used for showcasing chickens, he said.<br />
<br />
&quot;We snuck them in,&quot; he quipped.<br />
<br />
According to the United Nations, an estimated 800 million people live in extreme poverty, with those in fragile and conflict-torn states suffering the most.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will donate 100,000 chicks to poor nations in their bid to end extreme poverty

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, speaking in front of clucking chickens in a New York City skyscraper, announced plans on Wednesday to donate 100,000 chicks to poor nations in an effort to end extreme poverty. The chicks will go to rural areas in two dozen developing countries from Burkina Faso to Bolivia, where the Heifer International charity manages breeding operations and distribution, according to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Raising and selling chickens can lift families out of poverty, and a farmer breeding 250 chickens a year could make $1,250, said the Gates Foundation, which is partnering with the Heifer International charity. "There's no investment that has a return percentage anything like being able to breed chickens," said Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft. He urged the public to donate through Heifer International. "The numbers today in terms of Americans who give to Heifer or things like that is actually quite small, so we'd like to see that scaled up," Gates said. Referring to the proverb that teaching a man to fish will feed him for a lifetime, he said,"The parable could have been stated in terms of giving somebody a chicken and showing them how to raise chickens." Gates said he aimed to boost household chicken ownership in places such as West Africa, where it is now 5 per cent, to 30 per cent. Gates made his announcement on the 68th floor of a new building at the World Trade Center, a site not typically used for showcasing chickens, he said. "We snuck them in," he quipped. According to the United Nations, an estimated 800 million people live in extreme poverty, with those in fragile and conflict-torn states suffering the most.

Donating chicks is the Bill Gates way of fighting poverty

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