Poverty is a bane on everyone, and comes into people’s lives uninvited. This is why the Indian State funds so many welfare schemes to alleviate poverty in the country, thus helping several families to escape from the clutches of this soul-crushing social malady. However, almost all these welfare schemes are aimed at either SCs, STs, OBCs or minorities.
But surely, poverty and hunger don’t see caste. There are several poor people who are ineligible to be the recipients of any government welfare scheme by virtue of them belonging to the upper castes; folks who are barely eking out a living and are somehow just managing to survive. This is the story of one such boy whom no government scheme has been able to help.
12 year-old Dani Sharma lives alone in Shergarh near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. Dani does not go to school. He says that due to him being a Brahmin, the school does not waive his fees or give him a scholarship. As he has no money to buy food, so paying the school fees is out of the question. Instead of going to school, Dani works as a daily wage labourer whenever he can. Whatever money he earns, he buys food and provisions for himself. He does not, and can not, work everyday as he is not able to do much work. Often, he goes hungry for days on end. According to Dani, he is not the beneficiary of any government scheme.
Whenever he is able to buy provisions, he cooks rotis on a steel plate ― as he does not have a tawa ― on a chulha, an open stove that uses firewood as fuel.
Dani sleeps beneath the skies out in the cold every night outside his house, as the house is in such disrepair that the walls might fall down any moment. The rooms of the house have no roof either.
Crumbling walls and wild bushes keep Dani Sharma company. His father Deendayal Sharma passed away when Dani was 2 years old. Relatives and family friends came together to get his two elder sisters married. His mother married again, after which he has been living on his own.
Despite not having enough money for food, Dani’s love and affection for his father makes him light a diya in front of his father’s photograph.
Despite crores of rupees being spent by the government on several welfare schemes, no government scheme has been able to ensure that Dani Sharma gets three square meals everyday, that he is able to sleep on a full stomach or that he even goes to school — which, it may be pointed out, the Indian state is obligated to ensure for the child for free, as part of the RTE Act. The Hindi news portal Falana Dikhana had published a report on the conditions the 12 year old lives in.
A Twitter user even sent out a video of Dani in a tweet, tagging the handles of the Uttar Pradesh government, UP CM Yogi Adityanath and BJP leader Kapil Mishra ― all to no avail. Why is the administration of a country that proudly calls itself “Vishwaguru” is so apathetic to this 12 year Brahmin boy?
Meet a poor Brahmin kid Dani Sharma he is only 12 years old who lives in Mathura.Dani usually do "Majduri" to feed himself. Look at his poor condition, how he is cooking food. We talked to him,he said no government scheme is helping him @KapilMishra_IND @UPGovt @myogiadityanath pic.twitter.com/0ClPiuLjQr
— H Man Singh Panwar (@hmansingh237) February 5, 2021
The question that arises is this: when a country that proudly calls itself “Vishwaguru” is administered by a state that computes electoral utility of a citizen before deciding whether they deserve the state’s beneficence, where do we as a nation see ourselves heading?
(This article is based on the story carried by Falana Dikhana)
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