Beyond the glitzy and luxurious lives of the rich and famous, beyond the world of limousines and mansions, beyond shopping sprees and credit cards, their live a group of people who are not card for by any save their kin, who are looked down by society, and who can't even afford the basic necessities of life. Unemployed or with low income jobs, landless, hungry, illiterate and living with misery, they have collectively, been given a name by their more profitable counterparts, the 'Have nots'. The simple fact that some people cannot obtain such technology creates a divide between the so-called "haves" and "have-nots."
The word literally means 'those without anything', or in other words it denotes the poor. They are people who are not able to send their children to school, who cannot afford treatment when sick, who do not have access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities, and are ill-treated in almost every sphere.
The ratio of poverty in India is approximately around 26%. The number has remained constant for a fairly long period of time, as the population also rose. However the proportion of poor people is not uniform in the whole country. States like West Bengal, Kerala Punjab and Haryana have successfully reduced their poverty rate whereas it is still high in states like Bihar and Orissa. Similarly, certain social groups like the OBCs (Other Backward Classes), scheduled tribes and scheduled castes have more umber of 'Have nots' than other groups. On the global front, South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan, as well as some Latin American countries are comparatively poorer the rest of the world. In an era where the rich dominate, these 'have nots' often have a hard going. We only have to walk out of our homes and we can see hundreds of beggars lined up on the streets. Does anyone help them? Here, in the National Capital itself there are hordes of people, cooking their meager rotis under the flyovers. There are people who have to sell their children so as to earn a few handfuls of money- this is the condition of the 'Have nots', inspite of all the poverty measures taken.
Mother Teresa once said 'The most terrible thing about poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved'. Which is exactly what the hundreds of pavement dwellers must be going through. Isn't it about time we all stopped thinking about ourselves, and paid more attention to the heart wrenching saga of their lives?
Within the "have-nots," there exists yet another divide between those who have been termed the "wants" and the "don't-wants." Though the "have-nots" as a whole have not, for the most part, been terribly criticized for their lack of physical resources, the "don't-wants" have been consistently scorned, mocked, and accused. To attempt to save someone who does not wish to be saved is a lost cause, and the "don't-wants," a group that includes not only rich, but also poor people, have been deemed to have incorrect values that are simply inexcusable (Monroe 14). However, it would prove much more productive to recognize this group's reasons for hesitating to use ICT, and finding ways to assuage their fears and convince them that technology is not bad; rather, it can be used to their benefit.
1. Half the world - nearly three billion people - live on less than two dollars a day.
2. More than 80 percent of the world's population lives in countries where income differentials are widening
3. Lest 40 percent of the world's population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income.
4. Water problems affect half of humanity :
- Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
- Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
- More than 660 million people without sanitation live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million on less than $1 a day.