When Government Pay for Rich, Poor gets Poorer - This is called capitalism

U.S. poverty totals hit a 50-year high

The governments efforts to save the banks is basically paying poor people's money ( stealing and extorting) and giving it to rich to enjoy life. The whole exercise of QE1 and QE2 are just efforts in saving the funding lobbies and their interest so that they can get funding for next elections. All these easing has made life more difficult for the poor. It has made basic staple food affordability not only in poor countries but also in USA. More than 15% are poor who can have healthcare, housing and education. 

Unless and until government change its policies and methods how so called free market work( there is no free market in fact, there are many interventions and QE which really distorted it.)

Let us clean the system, remove the toxic, stop all types of gambling( derivatives, futures and options).

Then and then we can see peace in this world, where poor gets justice.

Soaring Poverty Casts Spotlight on 'Lost Decade'

This is report of 

By Don Lee, Noam Levey and Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times September 14, 2011

Reporting from Washington—

In a grim portrait of a nation in economic turmoil, the government reported that the number of people living in poverty last year surged to 46.2 million — the most in at least half a century — as 1 million more Americans went without health insurance and household incomes fell sharply.

The poverty rate for all Americans rose in 2010 for the third consecutive year, matching the 15.1% figure in 1993 and pushing many more young adults to double up or return to their parents' home to avoid joining the ranks of the poor.

Taken together, the annual income and poverty snapshot released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau underscored how the recession is casting a long shadow well after its official end in June 2009.

And at the current sluggish pace of economic growth, analysts don't expect many of these indicators of economic and social well-being to turn better soon.

Census officials wouldn't say definitively what caused the surge in poverty, but it was evident that the root of the continuing misery was the nation's inability to create jobs.

The total number of Americans who fell below the official poverty line last year rose from 43.6 million in 2009. Of the 2.6-million increase, about two-thirds of the people said they did not work even one week last year.

Those with jobs were much less likely to be poor, but the recession and weak recovery have wiped out income gains of prior years for a broad spectrum of workers and their families. Inflation-adjusted median household income — the middle of the populace — fell 2.3% to $49,445 last year from a year ago and 7% from 2000.

"It's a lost decade for the middle class," said Sheldon Danziger, a poverty expert at the University of Michigan.

The number of poor children younger than 18 reached its highest level since 1962, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution.

Poverty reached a record high for Latino children, who Frey said accounted for more than half the overall increase in poor children last year.

Blacks had the highest child poverty rate at 39%, up more than 3 percentage points from last year.

Overall, poverty was generally higher than the national rate in states with high unemployment and in the South. Mississippi had the highest poverty rate last year, at 22.7%, and New Hampshire had the lowest, 6.6%.

The share of Californians who fell below the poverty line rose last year to 16.3%, up a full percentage point from 2009.

The state's median household income, meanwhile, plunged 4.6% to $54,459 — marking the largest single-year decline on record, according to the California Budget Project.

Christopher Noack, 25, had little choice last year but to move back into his parents' home in the Central California town of Salida. The high school graduate tried to support himself on retail jobs and, for a while, lived in an apartment with a friend, even taking on extra household chores to pay a lower share of rent. But that wasn't enough.

"It feels like life is on hold," said Noack.

"Every now and then, I will see someone who I used to know in high school, who I know got a job. They will be having a business lunch or be on the way to the airport, and one out of 10 times I will get a twinge of jealousy because, just simply, I don't know anybody who could get me on a path like that."

Noack's frustrations are shared by many others in his age group, including college graduates.

Overall, the number of 25- to 34-year-old men and women who were living with their parents last spring totaled 5.9 million — a 25.5% increase since the recession began in 2007.

Nearly half of this group would have been counted as among the poor had they been out on their own, according to Trudi Renwick, chief of poverty statistics for the Census Bureau.

"The next generation is going to be terribly punished if we don't find more jobs," said Timothy M. Smeeding, director of the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin. Studies have shown the effects of recessions and job losses can hurt a worker's earnings for many years into the future.

The census report, coming shortly after President Obama unveiled a proposed $447-billion package of tax cuts and spending to revive job growth and the recovery, was seen as intensifying the debate over the government's role in helping the poor and unemployed at a time of budget deficits and painful cutbacks in public services.

Unemployment benefits, the Census Bureau said, helped lift about 3 million people above the poverty line, and Obama's latest proposal includes continuing the aid.

The report "underscores yet again why these programs must be maintained to rebuild the economy," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, referring to unemployment insurance and Social Security benefits.

But conservative groups expressed their concerns about Americans' growing reliance on such programs, including government health insurance.

"It raises the issue of whether we can afford this," said Nina Owcharenko, director of health policy studies at the Heritage Foundation. "These entitlement programs are unsustainable."

The census report found more Americans again lost health insurance in 2010, continuing a decade-long erosion in coverage that pushed the percentage of uninsured to 16.3%, the highest ever recorded.

But the decline in health coverage slowed from 2009 to 2010 and was not statistically significant, according to census analysts.

The number of young people ages 18 to 24 who had insurance increased significantly, possibly reflecting the effect of the new healthcare law, which allows dependents up to age 26 to remain on their parents' health plans.

The decline in insurance coverage was fueled largely by employers dropping health benefits as healthcare costs continued to rise, a trend that has reduced the percentage of Americans who get health benefits through work from a peak of 65.1% in 2000 to 55.3% last year.

During that period, the average annual premium for an employer-provided family health plan more than doubled to $13,770 from $6,438, according to surveys by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.

As Americans lost coverage through work, they have increasingly relied on government programs such as Medicaid.

"The real policy take-away is the importance of protecting the safety net," said Families USA Chief Executive Ron Pollack, a leading consumer advocate. "Medicaid is the lifeline."

By the Census Bureau's latest measure, the poverty threshold last year was an income of $11,139 for one person and $22,314 for a family of four.

Lorenzo Williams, 25, of Hesperia is well below that threshold.

After his hours as a store clerk at the local Salvation Army had been cut twice, reducing his monthly earnings of about $1,500 to about $600, the high school graduate had to move from his one-bedroom apartment to a small two-bedroom unit to share costs with a roommate. With $166 a month in food stamps, he barely gets by.

Williams said he goes to job fairs, but the lines are long, the competition tough. He now plans to begin Bible studies next year and become a pastor.

The official poverty rate doesn't count food stamp benefits and low-income tax credits as income

If those programs, which totaled about $150 billion last year, were included, millions more people would have been counted as being above the poverty line.

At the same time, analysts said, other factors understate the extent of people struggling to meet their basic needs.

Experts agree that the government's poverty thresholds, designed in the early 1960s, don't reflect people's spending and living needs in today's economy.

The Census Bureau is scheduled to release alternative measures of poverty in October.

don.lee@latimes.com

noam.levey@latimes.com

alejandro.lazo@latimes.com

Black Day For Indian Industry and Development of West Bangal

The Singur Drama - Justice or Injustice - Development or Backwardness

Revenge will never deliver anything, it will only deliver revenge. Those with good heart and good intentions never go for revenge.

Today is very sad day for West Bangal, it will start a long road to injustice. If west bengal people voted for development, Mamata Di with Pranob Da can not deliver it. In my career, I saw and experienced Tata's very closely and worked with their many social veentures.

I can say 100% and I am more confident no one Indian industrial house has the record as good as of Tata's to deliver the society, the most wanted justice.
Tata Trust and Tata Brand in general are known for their social commitment for last more than 150 years. This is more than the life span of Da and Di together. Tata's changed life of people through out the nation.

I remember very well when I was doing my MBA from Pune University, we visited Tata Motors and saw how their HRM work. I am really surprised to see how much care they take about their people. The man who was heading HRM knows workers with names, their kids and what they doing. What are the problems they are facing in society and always eager to solve it.

After my MBA, I was with the team which launched Tata Select Equity ( first socially responsible and shariah compliant fund of India.). I worked on many projects fully supported by Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabaji Tata Trust. I know how much they care about the society and problems society facing for livelyhood.

Unfortunately this is worst of decision by Di and Da. It will take West Bengal to 19th Century.

What is the record of Di and Da? Do they really have anything to show, except derailed Railway? From profit making to losses? Apart from shounting what else Di can do?

This will not be justice to anyone, it will start long battle between the state all powerfull and those who care for peoples of nation, definitely Tata.
Tata's has impeachable record of , no one can take it by legislation. This is long judicial battle. The battle which may take 25 years may be more, only my next generation will see if at all it happens, who wins.

Brand of Tata will win Hearts, because it is in Hearts of Indian. It is brand of India. No one can defeat it.

Education - India's Development Challenge

India’s Development Challenge

Enrolment in primary schools plunges 2.6 million in 2 years

1. It is a lesson in misplaced enthusiasm. While the Centre has been busy tom-tomming its efforts to send more children to school, enrolment in primary classes across the country has, in actuality, dropped since 2007. Between 2008-09 and 2009-10, enrolment in classes I to IV in Indian schools dropped by over 2.6 million.
The biggest setback was witnessed in Uttar Pradesh, where admissions plummeted by over a million in the last two years, according to the latest data released by the ministry of human resource development.
Thousands of students, including girls, from hundreds of villages in the district have to cover a distance of over five kilometres to reach their primary and secondary schools.

2. As per the records of education department, the girls of 381 villages have to cover a distance of more than five kilometres to get education of upper primary level while the girls of 963 villages cover this distance to get secondary-level education.

Schools still remain distant for girls

Varanasi

The records state that 1,062 villages have primary schools while the kids of 109 villages have to cover a distance of 1-3 km to reach their primary schools.
The girls of 320 villages and boys of 198 villages travel 3-5 km to reach upper primary schools.

'Only 12 of 100 kids in civic schools reach Std X'

The Centre may have implemented the Right to Education Act, aiming for a 100% literacy rate in the country, but the ground reality in the state is rather disheartening.
According to a survey conducted by a non-government organization, of every 100 students admitted to a municipality school, only 12 reach Std X. Clubbed with the high dropout rates, the educational course in civic schools is also highlighted with the abysmally low pass percentage.
"Every year, the Bombay Municipal Corporation spends around Rs 40,000 on each student. Still, 15 of the 24 wards in the city showed an alarming rise in the number of students who have dropped out of school this year," said Nitai Mehta, founder and trustee of Praja Foundation that conducted the survey over the past three years. "What about the development of these children?"
"One of the major problems lies in the fact that most BMC schools are only till Std VII. Almost 1,242 such schools exist in Mumbai as compared to 42 schools which have classes till X. As a result, most of the children do not study beyond that level," his is another reason why students drop out of schools after class VII," said panelist Farida Lambay, founder of NGO Pratham.

Rural kids voice their disappointment over lack of schools in their vicinity


CHENNAI: B Nagaraj (12) and P Munniaraj (11) saw trains for the first time on Sunday. As the first members of their families to journey beyond their home in Gulati village deep in the reserve forest at Denkanikottai in Krishnagiri district, both boys are here on a mission: to talk about how the lack of infrastructure in their village makes it impossible for them to attend school.
Twelve-year-olds N Nagavijay and M Pandian from Thovakudu village in Ramanathapuram and Mandavaikuppam village in Villupuram respectively travel a distance of six km and eight km each to reach school everyday. While Nagavijay dropped out last year because of the distance, activists convinced him to go back this year. "It is unbearably hot during the summer and inconvenient for us to walk six km during the rain with our bags on our backs. I go to school because my parents say I need to work hard and study, become successful and serve my land when I grow up," he said.
Until class V, P Chitra (15), from Kadamanravu village in Kodaikanal district, attended a state-run residential Adi Dravidar school which operated out of a group house where teachers would come in for an hour. "I dropped out for a year and was admitted to class VI at a higher secondary school 35 km away from my village. While children my age were in classes VIII and IX by then, I was stuck in a lower class. I could not cope with the lessons. Also, the food served in the afternoon would have worms in it, so I dropped out," she said.

Only 57 per cent children going to school: RTE Act report


The euphoria over the spurt in India's literacy figures has all but overshadowed the poor progress of the Right to Education (RTE) Act in its first year.The landmark law, mandating free and compulsory education for all children, was enforced from April 1 last year.

But a reality check shows that even as the gross enrolment ratio is an astounding 98 per cent at the primary school level, actual attendance of students in schools is far lower.Another area of concern is the large number of "out of school" children. Government data shows that at present, over 81.5 lakh children don't go to school and are a difficult segment to reach out to.

Educationist Vinod Raina, who was involved in the drafting of the RTE Act, said: "While the gross enrolment ratio stands at 98 per cent, attendance in schools is only about 57 per cent. A lot needs to be done if children are to be actually put into school.

"Kapil Sibal focuses on bringing GER to 30%


Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education which is presently hovering at a mere 13%, a whole 10% below the world average.

Rs.80/Kg-Rs.2/KG= ? ..........=Suicide

The Great Indian Puzzle Rs. 80/kg – Rs.2 /Kg=? ……….. = Suicide!!!!!

The onion price has gone from Rs. 80 to Rs 2 a Kg in last 45 days. What a great achievement! Great work my dear Prime Minister!!! Please check your hands!!!
I thinks it has blood……..it has blood of those poor farmers who are asking for fair play. They are asking for life not death.

IIT and IIM are increased, doubled over the years and especially in last ten years. I have just one question how many more agriculture universities and colleges do we have started in last ten years. India’s biggest sector is neglected and neglected too much; the sector which gives employment to 70% of India is no where in development and growth.

We need IIT and IIM ….yes…….I am not disagreeing on it but more importantly we need many more agriculture colleges and universities to educate those who are dying because of lack of knowledge on how to do the job they are doing.


Mr. Dr. Prime Minister ...............( PhD is Capitalist Economy) Yes you have yet to complete a job! As you said you have job to be completed ……….……… …poor are starving. You are making them starve. You have Job to be completed of converting India’s economy run by 12% so rich become richer and poor become poorer. This is what exactly you are doing with your policies.

Onion Rs. 60 to Rs 80 a Kilogram and all vegetables are skyrocketing in the market. The prices of the food items, especially basic food staple has increased almost 50% in last one year and if we look at basket of basic food needs of an average family it has doubled in last two years. Officially inflation stood around 18% YonY at end of December over last year. Global food prices has gone 25% (FAO) food index YonY and pulses has risen 39% YonY. This is the situation, India the biggest producer of pulses and milk has very bad year. Unfortunately PM says because poor people has more disposable income so they are spending more and result is price rise. But with all logic and his credential as economist and as RBI governor I failed to understand, how increase in income of middle class, or poor people will affect prices so much. Are they storing too much? Are they eating too much? They must be spoiling too much!! Unfortunately their income has not gone up that much, and whose income has gone up, the real middle class will spend it on vehicles, cars and tourism, night clubs, most importantly Liquor. India has one of the fasted growth in liquor sell, government should think of increasing taxes on this and associated product which will burden India’s healthcare system in long term. But no one can eat more than his belly, still we are poor country can not spoil food. Even today when I go to any of the home (well to do) I have not seen any one throwing yesterdays food in dustbin. Most of them eat after making it something different product or same by heating. If not, for more than a days old, they will give to maid (she will take it happily and enjoy it, never throw it.). We have more than enough destitute who come asking for food everyday, they too like to take old food. This logic of increase in income is cause of price rise does not hold good. Economist are good in numbers and interpreting it differently as they like, we need to see price parity basis also, and definitely our statistical bureau can give any number, also can prove that income has increase. I am agreeing to income has increased, but one must accept, poverty, and disparity in income has also increase and I can prove it with their numbers only. I am not in business of making numbers fortunately.

This means farmers must be making fortunes by selling onion, potato, milk and other vegetables. Their income must have been increased substantially in last decade. But Data talks differently, last year more than 17000 farmers committed suicide because of financial problems. In 2011 from January 1st till 15th, more than 11 farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha only. (PM has given big package for the development of Vidarbha farmers, which I failed to see on ground when he visited, that was election gimmick played very well………. We should have elections every 2 years instead of 5 years so people may get some thing regularly, one year assembly election and next year parliamentary election.)
Average Productivity of main crops and India’s Ranking in the world.
MSP for last five years
Minimum wages for last five years
Land holding pattern in India
Average income of farmer
Average monthly salary of Class IV employee of Government of India after 6th pay commission.


If we look at data below even though India has one of key player in agriculture its performance as agriculture producer has remain dismal. It is the old Green revolution which made India self sufficient in wheat and white revolution for milk. But disparities in states are wide. Production is bad and productivity is at mercy of mansoon. Unfortunately government’s allocation to the agriculture as percentage share of budget is going down continuously. The projects are still uncompleted after 20 years of executions.

The cost of production has gone up three time, average holding of land is going down and productivity and MSP are not increased so farmers are getting poorer.

This need change of attitude and focus on change of development. 12% growth will bring more deaths and more inflation and more food riots and disparity between rich and poor.
India needs 7% growth which is diversified across the sectors and in the villages.
Government must increase its allocation to agriculture and also in the research.



This is sole reason -------------A change is must!!!