Preetinder Singh

Covering news beat of Municipal Corporation of city like Ludhiana, which is biggest city after New Delhi in the north India, for English daily encountered me with fact that our policies have failed to recognize the presence of the poor in the cities. While rich and influential are sabotaging the system in connivance with bureaucrats, for poor even earning of bread and butter is illegal activity.

More than 30 percent of the cities population is living in poverty and they have no place to own. Most of them earn livelihood by selling products on Rehires (one having shop on Rickshaw) and footpaths, which include from vegetables to the selling of toys for children. Day and night they fear one thing-that is Tehbazari team of the municipal corporation, which takes their goods in possession on spotting them on roads and streets.

I know few of them, who actually are very genuine people and much honest as individual then our elite bureaucrats and politicians. Naresh (name changed) is one of them, who eke out his living by selling plate of Rajmah Chawal for Rs 15 in the local Feroze Gandhi market. In my presence, many a times he served free meal to the homeless children and did not charged anything. I wonder what he would be taking home end of the day.

But the kind hearted man had to pay bribe of Rs 150 to the parking contractor every day for allowing selling his product. However, even after bribing the contractor, a team of corporation could any time take away his belongings.

Recently, Ludhiana Corporation during the clean up operations in the city on first of January forced hundreds of like Naresh to abandon their business and sit at home. The operation was launched in pretext that they were doing business illegally on the government land. It was termed a New Year gift to the residents-More clean city (without poor in other way).

Many people might urge that what ever may be reason. Illegal is illegal. But, whether these people could ever buy land, prices of which are jacked by the land mafia in connivance with political top brass. While in the prominent areas of the city, land prices are as high as Rs 1.5 lakh per square, in no commercial area it comes down than Rs 50 per square yard. It means that even buying of five square yard would be costing Rs 7.5 lakh. How many Rehriwala could be able to buy it as most of them do not have cash for second days, if do not come for work? Not even one, even one who is doing the best business.

I know one Kulcha wala from my school time. He was selling Kulche-Chole like anything and even purchased by the elite of the city. He might be among few sellers on the footpath, in front of them one could find swanky Honda’s city and Skoda’s lined up. Interestingly, he also pay income tax. But, to my surprise when I came in the city after 15 years (after being appointed staff reporter with English daily) saw that he was still on the same footpath.

Popularly known as Panditji, he said, “How person could think of buying shop here and even my next generation could not think in as prices are so high.” Irony is that while these poor and greedless people are harassed, half of the Ludhiana’s elite population have encroached some or the other part of the government land and included in their building and houses. Not more than 20 percent have left parking space as per civic bodies laws, which also akin to the encroachments. No action is taken against them.

On the other hand, these harmless Rehriwals and footpath sellers are left to bear the wrath of so called law enforcement agencies. Need is that we must recognise existence of these ordinary Rehriwals and their struggle for bread and butter. As case is similar in the cities too, government should frame up policies to give them space to sell their goods and do not eliminate their basic right of survival. Need is to develop sensitivity towards the poor, which have forgotten long ago.