POVERTY & RELIGION

SUBMITTED TO DR. SARBESHWAR SAHOO

BY:
PARTH TYAGI
ZEESHAN AHMAD
AVDHESH MEENA
BHARAT MITTAL
CAROLE LIXI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are indeed grateful to Dr. Sarbeshwar Sahoo for giving us this opportunity to do
the project on POVERTY AND RELIGION .
We are also grateful to Mr Rajesh Singh , whom we met at R K Puram , sec 3 ,
who escorted us into the narrow streets of that area where we wouldnt have dared
to enter alone.

ABSTRACT
We have done survey on the poverty spread across different religions and at different
locations in and around delhi. We went to R K Puram , sec-3 , Saraswati Camp , sec- 4 ,

Nizzamuddin and St . Thomas Church . We found poverty prevailing there. We talked

to the poor people over there and found out about their hardship .

CONTENTS
1.
2.
3.
4.

HINDUS
MUSLIMS
CHRISTIANS
SIKHS

HINDUS
The Hindus constitute about 82% of the delhi population . They are the majority in delhi .
We saw that although they are the majority but their standard of living was not high ,
signifying that only a small section of hindu population was using the huge amount of the
natural resources .
We did survey on poverty prevailing in different regions like RK Puram sec-3,4 and fruit
market near Munirka. We talked to different people and asked their problems and their
income, expenditure values. We came to know about their harassment by police and law
keepers. They do not have any comfort of proper shelter and good sanitation conditions.
Their living condition is miserable.
They live in state of darkness .We went to a small locality in RK Puram sec-3,4 and found
packs of garbage all around their houses. That was an unfortunate living condition. We could

not even walk in that area. Drains were open in that locality and overflowing sewer water was
acting as a breeding place for mosquitoes.
The people living there did not have any permanent job but they were willing to work if
government policies could help them. But our government policies are barely of any help to
them. They were addicted to alcoholism and smoking. Even the policemen came there and
harassed them, demanding money from them each time they came.

We talked to about 30 families and out of those we give here the data of 6 families
NAME

RAJESH KUMAR

ADDRESS

R K PURAM , SEC-3

OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS

LABOURER
1,500 PER MONTH
2,000 PER MONTH
1.Not enough money for paying the school
fee.
2.No proper sanitation .
3.Inhuman living condition
4.No pucca house.

NAME

DEEPAK SINHA

ADDRESS

R K PURAM , SEC-3

OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS

Construction site worker

1,0000
PER MONTH
5,000 PER MONTH
1.Not enough money for paying the school

fee.
2.Inhuman living condition
3.No electricity .
4.Frequent police raids .

NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS

RAJAT YADAV
JAHANGIRPURI
Vegetable vendor
15000 PER MONTH
12000 PER MONTH
1.Not enough money to pay childrens school
fees
2.No electricity
3.No medical facilities

NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS

VINIT PATIL
JAHANGIRPURI
Rag picker
1500 PER MONTH
2000 PER MONTH
1.In huge debt
2.No house
3.No educational and medical facilities

NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE

LALIT MEENA
RK PURAM, SEC 4
Rickshaw puller
7000 PER MONTH
5000 PER MONTH

PROBLEMS

1.No money for daughters marriage

2.No electricity
3.No medical facilities
4.Inhuman living conditions

NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS

ARCHANA SINGH
JAHANGIRPURI
Potter
10000 PER MONTH
8000 PER MONTH
1.Domestic violence as husband is
unemployed and addicted to alcohol
2.Less work force, forcing her to work for
longer hours

3.No medical facilities

The problems faced by Hindus are general in nature and not specific as in case of Christians
and Muslims. A large number of people still live in slums and kachha houses away from the
lime light and glamour of Delhi .

MUSLIMS
The Muslims constitute the largest minority community in India as well as Delhi. They are
the community that our survey revealed to be the most deprived and with the lowest per
capita income and consumption. Although Muslim populations in Delhi are widespread but
the main areas where they are in majority are Abul Fazl, Nizamuddin, Okhla. The posh areas
of Delhi mostly have the Muslims in the form of working labourers or in small shops. The
areas like R.K Puram and Jahangirpuri also have large Muslim populations in the form of
slums and these areas almost completely describe the pathetic state of Muslims in Delhi.

Going through various researches and surveys it is prominently seen that education is one of
the most lacking aspect in the Muslim community. It is because of this that after so many
years after independence the community lacks in major fields in the country even though they
constitute the second largest group in the population.

Our survey here shows the names of 5 Muslim people out of roughly 20 Muslim families we
met and their different attributes relating to poverty:

1
NAME
ADDRESS

MOHAMMAD OSMAN
SEC 4, RK PURAM

OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS FACED

VEGETABLE VENDOR
Rs 100 PER DAY
Rs 120 PER DAY
1. RESIDENTIAL: HAS NO PUCCA
HOUSE, LIVING IN SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS,NO
PROPER WASTE DIPOSAL
GROUND, POOR SANITATION,
2. ECONOMIC: UNABLE TO PAY
SCHOOL FEES, NO ELECTRICITY,

2
NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION

TANVIR AL HAQ
NIZAMUDDIN
LABOURER

INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS FACED

Rs 50 PER DAY
Rs 80 PER DAY
1. RESIDENTIAL: NO PUCCA
HOUSE, LIVING IN INHUMAN
CONDITIONS, NO GOOD
QUALITY WATER,
2. ECONOMIC: UNABLE TO SAVE
MONEY FOR EDUCATION &
HEALTHCARE, NO ELECTRICITY

3
NAME
ADDRESS

AABAN ALI SHAH

SEC 4, RK PURAM

OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE

CURRENTLY UNEMPLOYED
NA
VARIABLE DEPENDING ON

PROBLEMS FACED

EMPLOYMENT
1. RESIDENTIAL: NO PUCCA HOUSE,
LIVING IN INHUMAN CONDITIONS, NO
GOOD QUALITY WATER,
2.ECONOMIC: UNABLE TO SAVE
MONEY FOR EDUCATION &
HEALTHCARE, NO ELECTRICITY

4
NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS FACED

IRFAN ANSARI
ABUL FAZL
MECHANIC
Rs 80 PER DAY
Rs 100 PER DAY
1. RESIDENTIAL:NO HOUSES ,
QUARREL OVER PETTY ISSUES
LIKE WATER, WASTE DISPOSAL,
2. ECONOMIC:ALCOHOL,
SMOKING ADDICT, POLICE

RAIDS ON HOMES FREQUENTLY

CAUSE A LOT OF PAIN, HAS TO
SUPPORT A LARGE FAMILY OF
10 WITH HIS MEAGRE INCOME
5
NAME
ADDRESS

RASHID AKHTAR
SARASWATI CAMP,SEC 3, RK PURAM

OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS FACED

SWEEPER
Rs 5000 PER MONTH
Rs 7000 PER MONTH
1. RESIDENTIAL: LIVES IN GOVT.
QUARTERS BUT DOES NOT
HAVE HIS OWN HOME, POST
RETIREMENT PROBLEMS,
2. ECONOMIC: ALCOHOL ADDICT,
SMOKING, MEDICAL PROBLEMS

REQUIRING LOT OF MONEY

The aforesaid details about 5 Muslim people roughly sum up the poverty conditions and
problems faced by the various Muslims in Delhi. Based on these problems, we have tried to
provide certain methods of improving their conditions:
1. The root of the Muslim problems is illiteracy. Hence an all-out effort is necessary to
ensure that Muslim children get quality education in helping them get employed in
additional to the madrasa education so that they do not face the same problems which
their parents face.
2. The Muslims Waqf board should be more driven by the desire to eradicate the
problems of poverty, illiteracy and all kinds of irregularities in fund allocation should
be sorted out.
3. Self-employment should be encouraged among them and the markets for their
products, which are presently very limited, should be expanded to make their
occupations prosperous.
4. All these functions should be looked after by a more autonomous Muslim Minority
Development Board.

CHRISTIANS
The Christians constitute 0.9% of the population of Delhi. They are relatively well off
community compared to other minorities in Delhi. The Christians are not concentrated in a
particular region as such but they may be found in large numbers in and around the churches
and other places of their interest. The employment rates of this community are also high
which may be partly due to the efforts of Christian missionaries. The Indian (converted)
Christians are mostly the lower caste Hindus which were offered financial help and jobs by
the richer Christian missionaries and the elite.
The Christian people were particularly hard to find during our survey although we were lucky
to find them scattered in various other areas of Muslim or lower caste Hindu communities.
Some aspects of the poverty among the Christian people which we came to know through our
survey are discussed through the descriptions of people here:
1
NAME
ADDRESS

JACINTH SAMUELS
NEAR CONVENT OF JESUS & MARY

OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS

SCHOOL
PEON IN THE ABOVE SCHOOL
Rs 4000 per month
Rs 3500-4000 per month
ALTHOUGH THE ECONOMIC
PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN ALMOST
SOLVED, BUT HIS FAMILY IS STILL
NOT RESPECTED IN SOCIETY AND NOT

MUCH HAS CHANGED FROM HIS

LOWER CASTE STATUS
2
NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS

ALLAN MARGHARETTI
NEAR RAILWAY STATION
COOLIE IN NIZAMUDDIN RLY. STATION
Rs 10000
Rs 8000
1. RESIDENTIAL: HAS NO PUCCA
HOUSE OR FACILITIES LIKE PURE
DRINKING WATER, ELECTRICITY ETC.
2. HARASSMENT BY FELLOW
WORKERS: IS SUBJECT TO
CONTINUOUS HARRASMENT BY
FELLOW COOLIES DUE TO
CONVERSION WHICH WAS BY HIS
FATHER. ALSO EVN THOUGH
MISSIONARIES PROVIDED RELIEF TO
HIS FAMILY BY GIVING EMPLOYMENT
TO HIS FATHER BUT HE GOT NO SUCH
HELP IN FINDING EMPLOYMENT.

As given in the table, one of the most painful problems faced by the Indian Christians is
the harassment by the other Hindus or upper castes. Delhi has been lucky not to witness cases
of violence like destruction of church property, schools etc. as in Orissa or in other northeastern states but still they are not immune to the mental harassment at the hands of the
majority community.

The Christians are also neglected by the governmental agencies because of their less number.
The government should come forward to protect their interests and maintain the secular tag of
India.

SIKHS
The level of poverty amongst Sikhs is very low as compared to other religions as a
result of which we could find very few poor Sikhs. They prospered mainly due to
the green revolution.
NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
PROBLEMS

JASWINDER SINGH
RK PURAM, SEC 3
Auto rickshaw driver
20000 PER MONTH
15000 PER MONTH
1.Rising CNG gas prices
2.Illegal demand of money by police for
parking space
3.Alcohol addiction

CONCLUSIONS
After analysing the data that we collected we inferred that the percentage of poor
people is maximum in muslims . The condition of hindu was also not good , as a
significant number of people lived under the shadow of poverty . Among Christians
too poverty was widespread but not as much as in Muslims . There was no significant
poverty in Sikhs .
Hence we saw an indirect link does exist between poverty and religion.