Bhopal:
Kalu Rai, 55, was selling tea on a cart at an intersection in Jaisinagar in Madhya Pradesh. Last night he was found hanging from a tree in the same spot where he used to make tea every day.
A note in his pocket told of the crushing financial crisis that had pushed him to his limits. In the note, Rai wrote that he ran a tea shop which closed down after the Covid pandemic hit, throwing him into a financial crisis. When the restrictions were lifted, he reopened the store, but before business could pick up, his store was razed to the ground as part of an anti-infringement drill.
He tried to make ends meet by running a tea stall from a trolley, but failed. Rai wrote that as the burden of debt continued to grow, he could no longer cope. “No one is listening. What should I do? There is only one way: suicide,” he wrote.
The 55-year-old was the father of a son and three daughters. The son helped him at the tea stall.
The devastating impact of the pandemic and associated restrictions on low-income groups has been illustrated in several studies.
A World Bank report released last year suggested that 71 million people worldwide may have been pushed into extreme poverty as a result of the 2020 pandemic. Of these, nearly 79% were from India, the report entitled “Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2022” found.
The report stated that the most populous countries were the largest contributors to the increase in global poverty.
However, it stressed that despite being the most populous country in the world, China has not contributed much to the increase in global poverty. On the other hand, the report said, India witnessed a “pronounced economic contraction”.
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