An estimated 220,000 Indian hardcore poor desperately needing rice help to survive on day to day basis.

An estimated 220,000 Indian hardcore poor needing rice help to survive on day to day basis.

In the Kota Raja Parliamentary constituency alone 1,000 Indian families swarmed to register for the government’s Welfare Department and the national rice subsidy programme (NST 2/1/2010 at page 8).

If we did a simple extrapolation to the 222 parliamentary constituencies we would have 1,000 x 222 = 220,000 Indian hardcore poor desperately needing even rice help for their basic day to day diet, countrywide.

We know this is too simplistic an extrapolation, but true government statistics are not available and the true picture is never available for the common man. We are forced to use whatever statistics that are available and extrapolate however simplistically.

Regardless, the point really is , the problem of the Indian poor is acute, nothing is being done at the cause level. All we continue to get is band aid type of  response from this UMNO government at best . UMNO’s MIC Mandores in the NST report is attempting exactly that. This newspaper report is UMNO’s way of hoodwinking the people into thinking that UMNO is addressing the problem and that their Mandores the MIC is doing a good job. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This is happening even after 52 years of Independence under UMNO’s Malay-sian government – chronic poverty, hoodwinking of the people, illusions of a benevolent government and all.

P.Uthayakumar