India: Rich vs. Poor

Very revealing pod that further highlights the world's continuing battle between the haves and the have nots. Not quite sure government alone will be the solve to the problem. Its going to take a new breed of social entrepreneurs that tackle this issue. We hope to be on the forefront of that movement.

Excellent piece! Both informative and visually captivating.

Another excellent piece on S Asia. Current TV's insightful journalists go to places that the normal media misses completely, talks to ordinary people, and asks meaningful questions. Thank you for doing such a wonderful job.

Population is rising very fast and think on the future of the poverty. Evolution will eventually cover up the trash because the cities are being invested(infested). Houses with tons of people. The civilization of all animals. The birds in the city are hustlers compared to the farm animals. It's about the money for humans and food for the rest.

Very well done and informative. Pretty accurate. I've been to India a lot over the last couple of years. India has many problems. The biggest is that, like the actor said, Indians who HAVE need to realize it's THEIR responsibility to do something and make their country better. It's not the Indian government's job. It's not the American's job. It's not the American government's job. Greed and selfishness are root issues to be dealt with.

I always learn something when I watch Curreent TV. That tour in India 'Rich vs Poor' was just as if I had gone there myself. I am amazed at the quality of in depth information.
Did anyone notice how happy the children in the poverty stricken areas seemed ? Maybe they were happy to have the cameras on them but it takes so little to make them happy. They have their friends and they were playing. Yes, they need so much more, clean water, more food, better education are just a few things most people take for granted, but the children they seem happy.

Bangkok has a similar situation in Bangkok. Rich people getting richer and pool people getting pooler.

I personally don't feel that the situation is going to get better unless someone (their gov) steps in and gets the economy going. It sounds like they need more jobs. Who can get more business out there that these people can work for? You know. What types of jobs can these individuals do? How can the countries current economic and social system be improved?

I don't see how with limited resources and continued economic stratification that the prosperity in India will reach the lowest classes. There are just TOO MANY people. What I'd like to understand is what is an acceptable way of life for them. I suppose if getting out of poverty and a good economy means everyone living with the basic essentials fulfilled then that is achievable.The United States and other developed nations consume most of the resources though, so these people can never hope for a lifestyle equal to that of the overconsumption of the developed nations. The entire world economy has to change before everyone can enjoy a way of life considered normal in developed nations.

DarrellB, I agree with you that the world economy has to change,,,,If there was more INTEREST & COMPASSION for these poorer countries,,,,,and less GREED in the richer countries, then things would even out.
Even though this will never happen: the 1st time I went on a cruise, I thought of all the food thrown away..going to the fishes..All the cruise ships together could probably feed Africa.
The basic necessities given to India would be better than what some of them have..One step at a time.
The only thing that each person can do is GIVE to charities of their choice.

Thanks for putting up the true picture of India's shame. However, i am not agree with the title of the piece cause all those poors folk share the same caste i.e. dalits. India is govern by caste, 3000 old varnasystem has divided the society into four castes. And these people are not part of that varnasystem. They are at the bottom of the society and often dwell in poverty.

Let me ask the journalist, have u ever inquired which caste they belong? I am sure u won't get answer like Brahmin, Khastriya, or Vaisya - all upper castes. India has got the world's best constitution but yet after 60 years of independence the casteist mind still prevails in every speare of life. Only one portion of society is Rich doesn't make india rich as govt. depicts. All the sections of society have to be uplifted. No doubt Govt say there is reservation for such untouchables or lower caste people but in reality the vacancies are not filled up by dalits.

There is an age old Indian blessing passed on from elders to the young -- it loosely translates to "have many children". Of course, back then, India used to be an agricultural society and more hands meant more income, but while agriculture got more mechanized, or in some cases, completely shunned, we continued to subscribe to that message. Unfortunately, when our "founding fathers" set out repairing the country after decades of British rule, they did not see population as posing a big threat, and nothing was planned to counter it, and lo behold, six decades later, we have a 1.1 billion huge problem.

The government's family planning project has made significant efforts to reach out to roots of the problem -- poor people living in inaccessible villages, but it seems like it's a little too late. We are a democracy, and unlike China, we cannot force people to do anything, least of all limit reproduction.

Women, who hold the key to controlling the problem, continue to have very little say in the matter. The popular media never assumed any responsibility to address the issue, which is a pity, because oddly enough, majority of the target population do have access to a television set.

The cities are bursting at seams with immigrants from rural areas shunning their sustainable livelihoods, eager to partake of the sudden explosive growth the country has seen recently. This has put tremendous pressure on the cities, with even the next 5 years of slated infrastructure improvements already deemed insufficient. When exasperation rises to alarming levels, all you need is a small, seemingly irrelevant, incident to drive people into rioting.

Like Rahul said in the pod, we need to go back to our roots with a new message, a new blessing. Protect agriculture from the onslaught of foreign genetically modified seeds (which while improving production, are not very forgiving of monsoon tantrums). Provide enough subsidies to farmers so that agriculture can re-position itself as a profession worth pursuing. Provide good health care, free education and an accountable judicial system in rural areas, tax high income city-dwellers and well heeled Non-Resident Indians to make this possible. Spread the word about contraception, small family and women's rights through popular media. Provide attractive incentives for those who comply. We are a democracy only in name. In practice, we still live like failed, forever feuding, fragmented fiefdoms.

In an ideal world, even the most cursory analysis would lay bare India's root problems, and all sensible suggestions would be easy to adopt, but what to do with the barely educated, always inept, self-serving morons at the helm of things!

There should be no such thing as poor and rich. Everyone should have the same amount of income depending on your family size. Money should be distributed evenly between EVERYONE! Everyone's job is equally important to the economy except for people who don't do good things for our world. Those jobs that contribute to ruining our world should cease to exist. Everyone on Earth should be granted 1 acre of land if you are born on Earth. That would solve a lot of problems and there is definitely enough land on this planet to grant 1 person 1 acre. Only 1 acre! No man should be able to own 100 acres or even more when there is no where for people to live except for in the streets or in garbage.