Why do the ragpickers have ration permits but no identity?
Answers
Anees Jung encounters a rag-picker boy named Saheb daily in her neighbourhood. He is engaged in rag-picking and tells that he is scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps. He points out that they can find a silver coin, a rupee, a ten rupee note or more. More than 10,000 barefoot rag-pickers roam in the villages and the city roads. In her visit to the settlement colony of Seemapuri, the writer finds them living in the structures of mud with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. They are devoid of sewage, drainage or running water. More than 10,000 rag- pickers have occupied illegal places to live and they have been living for the last thirty years or so. They have been living there without permits. Only they have ration cards for grain purchase and to cast the votes. They have no identity, so food is more important for their survival. Through discussion, the writer comes to know that they consider food as the chief ingredient of their survival. At the end of the day they go to bed without an aching stomach. They pitch their tents wherever they find food. Thus, they become their transit homes. Children grow up in them and become partners in survival and survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. For them garbage is their gold, food and everything for children it is wrapped in wonder but for the elders it is a means of survival.