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India's 'hunger cafes'

Wed, 06/18/2008 - 3:12pm

DESHAKALYAN CHOWDHURY/AFP/Getty

A quarter might not get you much more than a ketchup packet in the United States these days, but in India it's enough to buy a meal for one of Mumbai's poor. Well aware of this fact, dozens of destitute Indian men line the streets in front of the city's "hunger cafes" each day, hoping the affluent will roll down their car windows and offer a rupee note or two.

Many of these cafes have stood for decades, and their poverty-stricken patrons keep coming back. "Car-bound charity" is typical in India, where "feudal giving" (e.g, when a patron pays school tuition for the children of his household's maid) also accounts for much of the nation's charitable work, reinforcing household and societal chains of command. Anonymous or "checkbook charity" is more popular in Western countries, where parading the poor out on the streets is considered degrading.

Drive-by charity, however altrusitic, is clearly not going to cut it as India tries to deal with the global food crisis. As of 2006, the country already ranked 96th -- below Nepal and Pakistan -- on the Global Hunger Index. And more recently, malnutrition among children has skyrocketed in India's central regions. The government has promised to dole out 30 kg of subsidized flour a month to poor families, but corruption and inefficiency often foil such efforts.

The cafes also fail to address one demographic that continually feels the food-shortage burden: women. Second-class citizens in many parts of India, women often eat last and get the least to eat. Looks like India still has some historical vestiges to confront if its going to become the new world power that so many expect it to be.

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There's that "demographic

by nquixote on Wed, 06/18/2008 - 5:49pm

There's that "demographic dividend" Indian businessmen are so excited about! Just wait til water starts running out too, hen the fun will really begin.

D'oh.

Why are you so sceptical

by bharat jain on Thu, 06/19/2008 - 2:18am

Why are you so sceptical about India's growing economic power? Why is it that some people are uncomfortable about India's rising stature? Is it plain jealously or simply that haughty American "holier-than-thou" attitude?

Which country is not home to the poor? About 12 per cent Americans live below poverty line i.e. they don't earn more than $1 a day. Millions more languish in poor social and economic circumstances. And all this in the world's most technologically advanced, military powerful, and highly industrialised nation!!

Today India is the second fastest growing large economy in the world. India has been able to build on its own; without ever exploiting (read grabbing) wealth and resources belonging to other nations. We will take time. We are not in a hurry. Our national dream is to empower all Indians with a life of dignity and social & economic equality.

Yes, I agree that we are not yet "there" i.e. we are not a developed nation. The U.S. became independent from British control in 1776; India in 1947 - just 61 years ago.

In the same time that the U.S. took to reach where it is today, we will leave you miles behind. No, I am not haughty; this simply is a fact of life, which the world will have to learn to accept.

I am a great admirer of the U.S. and have often been fascinated by its power (not for power's sake but for what change it can positively bring about).

To present "deep-seated prejudice" as some kind of "informed analysis" smacks of discomfort and outright dishonesty.

Bharat, you are certainly

by Katie Hunter on Thu, 06/19/2008 - 3:42pm

Bharat, you are certainly right. Poverty and hunger are not unique to India, and they do account for the situations of far too many around the world (and, yes, like you said, even in the "mighty" United States). But the facts still stand, one being that Mumbai's hunger cafes discriminate against women by refusing to serve them. I'll freely admit that we face similar issues in the United States, where black and Hispanic households rank above the national average in terms of food insecurity (see the Food Research and Action Center website). Yet when assessing general hunger, India still contains almost 50% of the world's hungry population- about 350 million people or 35% of the country's own population (see the World Food Programme website). There has also been plenty of criticism lobbed at the Indian government- by Indians and foreigners alike- concerning the inefficiencies and corruption plaguing food distribution and land cultivation programs. The U.S. government certainly has a long way to go if it is to effectively address its own poverty and hunger issues, but India arguably has a much longer road ahead of it. And while India is certainly making remarkable economic gains, I wouldn't say that its entirely able to do it "on its own"--Africa's mines might be helping a little (see http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/chinainstitute/
nav03.cfm?nav03=54243&nav02=43782&nav01=43092

Also, just to clarify, people living below the poverty line in the United States make more than $1 a day- the measurement is relative to the country to which it is applied.