Anantapur: Below Poverty Line families grapple to meet financial needs

Anantapur: Undoubtedly, BPL (Below Poverty Line) families are a worried lot. With reports of extension of lockdown making rounds, poor families are not sure about meeting their monthly financial commitments, if the lockdown is extended beyond April 14.

Sarojanamma, a white card holder, lives with her son and daughter-in-law besides two grandchildren. She makes a living by selling soft drinks, while her son is a car driver, and daughter-in-law works in a printing shop all daily wage earners. They have to pay Rs 8,000 a month as EMIs for owning electronic gadgets.

Talking to The Hans India, Sarojanamma claimed that their income has almost vanished and they were barely able to make both ends meet. They are managing with Rs 1,000 financial assistance and ration provided by the state government.

"With financial assistance and ration we are not going to sleep hungry but our financial commitments are rising by the day. We have to repay loans to banks and moneylenders who are exerting a lot of pressure. Any extension of the lockdown period will spell doom to our lives," she laments.

There are hundreds of such daily wage earners who are feeling disillusioned and hopeless in this uncertain scenario. There are also eligible BPL families who do not have white cards and therefore in a precarious financial position and virtually on the verge of starvation, temporarily benefiting from charity food packets from NGOs.

Meanwhile, Sangeetha, another BPL card holder in Leninnagar lost her job due to the lockdown. She was informed by her shop owner that he can no longer hire her even after lockdown as he is on the losing side. She lost her monthly income of Rs 5,000. Her husband is a self-employed electrician, who is not getting any work due to lockdown. "Already we are going through tough times and any extension of lockdown will make our lives miserable. We are losing out on our livelihood and corona-outbreak has pushed our lives from bad to worse," rues Sangeetha.

Similarly, many poor people expressed their anguish to this correspondent about the bleak future ahead of them.