I usually take Uber in India, and often ask the driver about his work, how much he makes, etc. This is for a North-Indian Tier-2 city.
The answer usually is that he makes INR 6000/month.
Now, I have eaten in middling restaurants where a meal for 2 came to INR 2500. In fact, I've been to cafes where a "meal" of tea, snacks, etc. alone came to over INR 700/pp. You would be hard pressed to get a decent meal in a clean, hygenic and modern restaurant for INR 200 anywhere in North India.
I was trying to show extremities of India. 2500 per head is not really much if some drinks are added. I am glad that you did not go all the way to politician Raj Babbar who claimed for 10 INR you can get a full meal any where in India.
How do you eat out and still spend only 50 rupees on food? Here in Bangalore I'd be hard pressed to keep it under 100, and it usually reaches near 150 rupees.
I agree, I think the government guaranteed wage is only 100rs per day if doing roadwork or similar. (Not sure the correct term).
I believe in the Kolkata superb area, many people with a bachelors or equivalent only make $60-80 usd a month. (4000-5500rs)
Of course, there are many many many people who make much more.
If I think of what it costs to eat out in the US, and what it costs to eat out in India...
200rs is probably more equivalent $15-40 dollars in the US. For buying power.
Examples:
Throw pillow that would be $30 USD, is 150rs, or 315rs at someplace like Anokhi.
Streetfood that would be ~$10 in the us is probably around 70rs ? But that’s even a hard comparison, as I’ve been able to snack for 20rs, but not a full meal.
A knife I bought to open coconuts, that isn’t pretty, but would probably be $25-$35 in the US, was 325rs, and I probably could have gotten it cheaper.
$250 is a tad lower than the median monthly salary in India. I bet you can find hundreds of millions of people willing to earn a cool $0.7 a day doing something as easy as this. That’s a meal or two for a poor person.
I live in Bangalore and I've never been able to find a decent meal less than Rs.50 here. Even in my hometown (a relatively small town) a meal at a restaurant is Rs.30.
If you don't mind, where do you live in India?
Edit: To clarify, I'm not doubting your statement, especially since I've been hearing it frequently these days. I'm genuinely curious.
The deprivation is rather severe in India. You would notice most of the people are doing full day of work and eat there. In US typical person who eat at a soup kitchen would quite likely be non-working/homeless.
I have had my well-off friends in India where 4 person family dinner will cost more than monthly salary of their car driver. And it is simultaneously true that driver's salary is quite less and a decent restaurant meal is very expensive.
In India, inr 500/day seems to be the minimum wage these days for unskilled labour. Inr 500= $6.25~
The 3.75/hour is literally more than what many skilled workers make in India. 3.75880=2400 inr. For 20 days =inr 48,000. Annually 576,000.00. To put that into context,
In India you are exempt from paying income tax if your annual income is less than inr 500,000. That covers like 95% or something of india population so if Indians get this job, many many people will get to earn a good bread
Your calculation is a bit off, it's around INR500,000(USD $7500)/year.
No doubt it's still a lot of money for a lot of people in India, but after adjusted for prices, it's really very little. Even cheap takeaway food would cost at least ¥300 ish.
> The 23-year-old earns 8,000 rupees a month ($125) for her work. That’s what her employers can expect to pay for a single “date night” out at one of the city’s finer restaurants.
Even in 2021 (article is from 2017) this is an exaggeration. You can have dinner for 2 at a five-star hotel in Delhi for less than half that amount, unless you're splurging on the drinks.
Yes, there are extremities in India. Food is a bigger pie of the income than what typical western population is accustomed to.
But this was over exaggeration.
Raj Babbar definitely went too far, but 30-40 INR is enough to find a meal (Even the article corroborates these numbers). Don't expect fine dining and mineral water though.
I presume you live or have lived in India? In that case, consider yourself that the people targeted for this earn less than Rs. 25 per day - that is the official poverty line in India. Please consider yourself what you would be able to afford to buy and eat and that price. For yourself and 2 children. If you live in India please attempt to go to a store and buy food for the same price and see what you get.
Moved to Thane, which is right next to Mumbai around six months ago.
Although not really related, but I get a good meal of my choice at roughly INR 70($1)/meal , and I can order in between snacks for a smaller price if needed. And I can stand their while it's cooked or not, all at the comfort of just going to an apartment that is next to mine. It's cheap, healthy and convenient. At my work place, I can't decide the food I want, and I pay 3 times more.
Another reference, Minimum wages for Unskilled Labour is INR 400/day. [1]
https://clc.gov.in/clc/node/645
reply