Fate of India

[LoveIndia]

Please read this article:

http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/feb/26inflation.htm

I feel that India being a global power is all fake. I agree all the developments happen only to a few people such as IT, BPO, NRI's investments, AAP Folks and other stuff - but the basic core of problems facing a common man - INFLATION is creating a huge divide between rich and poor. When folks can eat a Pizza for Rs. 500 - I feel horrible when they pay Rs. 600 as salary/month for a maid - Disgusting to say the least.:emsad:

[back_in_des]

I didn't read the article - it's quite late at this hour...

but I don't agree with this "When folks can eat a Pizza for Rs. 500 - I feel horrible when they pay Rs. 600 as salary/month for a maid - Disgusting to say the least"

I eat rs.500 pizza bcos I can afford to pay that much for a pizza and that is the current market rate for a pizza
I pay rs800 for a maid bcos that is the market rate for that

also, while there are rs500 pizza places, on the same street you will find another eatery where a meal will cost rs.20 - occasionally I eat at that too

Bcos I do well at what I do, I am able to employ a maid for Rs800. Isn't that good?

[vijay]

dude,read the article before commenting we dont need knee-jerks

I didn't read the article - it's quite late at this hour...

[/quote]

OP,
we are commiserating with you on this issue, its going to get slowly worse. India is on a path of capitalism, soon access to decent Health care will be out of reach for lower and lower middle class. This will be followed with education. capitalism will affect the fabric of Indian society too with a money based class system on top of the existing crap like caste system. All this is going to be worst for the lower classes (ie masses).
There was a reason India was initially ( till 10 yrs ago) largely a Socialist democracy. Now its all for the individual

[LoveIndia]

I feel the extreme capitalism followed by some countries in West will not be suitable to India as it will create a huge divide among our people. Since socialism also didn't produced enough results, one of the solution we can try is compassionate capitalism (Social Capitalism) such as producing goods and services abundantly utilizing Technology, Manpower and distributing to everyone where atleast everyone in India gets some basic stuff. (Eg.Telecom & Airlines)

[Srinivas]

I think as NRI and R2I's we got to think to develop india and make it a better place..

We got to take few days off of our busy life and teach some lower middle class people about money mgmt (or) get into social service and help these people out... I think some(may be most) of the people at their heart want to do this -- But our biggest fear is If we get into this -- where would we stand 30 yrs from now when rest of the people of our circle are better off and our savings are not worth much at that point -- and how would kids survive.

So I think we should atleast do something on the side for the lower sections of the soceity..

[Desi_by_Nature]

When folks can eat a Pizza for Rs. 500 - I feel horrible when they pay Rs. 600 as salary/month for a maid - Disgusting to say the least.

Well what should they do? Should they try finding a restaurant that sells pizza for Rs. 100 or should they try finding a maid who charges 2000 p.m.?
You cannot blame people for paying the market rate of what various goods and services costs.

For most of us pizza may not be a luxury, but for most of India it is. Just like a Jag or a Ferrari and a million $ mansion may be luxury for you - but perhaps the CEO of the company you work for has all that.

[DoctorJ]

I usually wait for a thread to attain some maturity...not finding enough time to air my thoughts, views and opinions on the other thread (below) discussing the same issue.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/08/news/international/pluggedin_murphy_india.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007020912
[/quote]

As for your post, I'd perfer to slightly disagree with your statement below...

I agree all the developments happen only to a few people such as IT, BPO, NRI's investments, AAP and other stuff
[/quote]

It looks like you are missing the point...for every successful individual in the above mentioned industries, there are a bunch of others benefiting. For instance the individual's family, the maid servents (who's billing rate has shot up too!), a possibility of an additional person being employed (a cook, a driver?), builders are reaping the benefits (so are their labourers in terms of regular and stable work - unlike past. Also, their working conditions and compensation have improved - not to mention accidental death benefits), the hotel industry, the entertainment industry, the list goes on...
It's a vibrant economy, gaining momentum as it gets more dynamic (not debating global power - super power issue. I'll come around to scribbling about that later) - not sure how stable though. But the development is trickling down for sure - it might not have reached the tribal people on top of the Vindhyas or Western Ghats. Just imagine the vendor of ballons in a rural market carrying a cell phone and you'll recognize the change.

When folks can eat a Pizza for Rs. 500 - I feel horrible when they pay Rs. 600 as salary/month for a maid - Disgusting to say the least.:emsad:
[/quote]

Oooo...Hold on to that thought. Hope I'm not being too insensitive.
But, aren't we missing the point completely??? I'm not sure if you are suggesting the same I'm thinking. Anyways, maid servant in most urban (at least the ones I can relate to) demand Rs.800 to Rs.1,200 as wage per month while picking and choosing the house they'd like to work in. And, while doing so, I know first hand that they demand hot cup of coffee, fresh breakfast (or lunch depending on the time) and seek other incentives like gifts and sarees during popular festivals, proximity to residence - not to mention good work condition (in terms of flexibality in work hours, availability washer, dryer, vaccum cleaner etc.) and lack of accountability (frequent disappearance without notice etc.). And, don't forget to include less mental stress and unskilled labour - no investment of time, energy and effort towards formal training and testing.

Now, tell me what's so very bad in their situation if they get paid Rs.600 (I'll go with your figure) per hour or being too liberal two hours of work? Aren't we all expected to work at least 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week (you've probably not given enought thought to the plight of most individuals working in the stressful and demanding work environment in IT or BPO). You are probably one of those lucky few who...in case you only work the stipulated hours no matter what industry or what profession.

Maan, I can go on for hours...but I've got a million things to do on a slow day.

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Ignorance is bliss...I cannot help it now. -DJ :cool:

[LoveIndia]

#6 - Doctor J - You have argued your points convincingly. Your views are good in theory, but in practice - the trickle-down effect (Multiplier effect) is not happening in India. As far as my experience goes with my friends who are all crore-pathis, they still pay Rs. 500/month as salary to maid-servant's, ask them to work all 7 days a week with no break. When I asked some of my friends why you guys are paying so less, the standard answer which resembles to DBN is "Market pays only this much. So why should I pay more".

Folks - I am disgusted to say that in our lifetime, I dont think that the trickle down effect is going to happen. The one solid reason I feel is that India is massively over-populated with cheap labor (Call it as No Cost Labor) and the substitute's are easily available to replace them. Let's say that the maid demands higher salary of Rs. 1000/month, there are people waiting outside to grab her job for the same Rs. 500/month. Till the population reduces to a manageable extent and the education improves to a certain level where the majority of poor people are going to be employed in manufacturing or service sector - this trend will not be reversed.

If you guys feel I am complaining too much and not doing anything constructively to solve this problem - I am doing some social service back in India to alleviate the poverty and hopefully will do more when I return.

[DoctorJ]

Please be mindful...It's not that I care less for poor people. It's just that I'm more considerate of the lower middle class people who don't seem to figure in the big scheme of things - everybody seems to ignore their needs. I'm talking about the government school teachers, regular honest policemen, entry or low level servicemen etc. who seem to be caught in the middle of nowhere. These people have a lot of pride that prevents them from convincing themselves to live in the slums (hutment where electricity, water and other facilities are free - although not exactly livable) and not cashin on the Housing (Ashraya) Scheme, Marked Ration Card (grainary at highly subsidised and throw away prices) etc. which the people living a slightly better rented house with merge income (they pay taxes too unlike most of the maid servants) and heap loads of problems - My heart bleeds for them :emsad:.

[Desi_by_Nature]

LoveIndia

I sympathize with your intentions but I don't understand your ideas.

You have listed the reasons behind cheap leabor, population explosion, economic disparity etc. - all that is understandable.

However arguing that people should voluntarily pay more than the market rate for any goods or services is just not a feasible solution.