Driver wants govt to make pvt education free for girls 20K income wants cheap goods
Family with
Amos Lentin, a 40-year-old graduate, who started as a salesman, has now been working for an MNC, which is a BPO, for a decade. Amos’ current annual income is `4.4 lakh. He is married to Shailaja, who did her BA, B. Ed and was working till she gave birth to their first child. The couple has two children, both studying in a private school.
Life for Mr Lentin and his family is tough. Asked about his expectations from the Union Budget
2020, he said he wanted the prices of petrol and essential commodities to come down, as they are the biggest burden for middleclass families. The Lentins live in Hydershakote, paying a rent of `8,000 per month.
They opted for this area because it is on outskirts of Hyderabad and rentals are much more reasonable than in the city. The couple has one dream – to give their children the best of education, which, they say, is quite expensive. Mr Lentin is trying hard to go abroad, the only motive being good money, so that his family can afford a comfortable living.
As the month starts, the family spends around
`15,000 on groceries, milk, electricity, cooking gas and water bills, apart from
`3,000 on petrol for his bike and `6,000 on monthly EMIs for household electronics that they have bought. Jennifer, the elder daughter studying in Class 6, is the class topper. She wants to become a doctor. Son Joel is in Class 3, likes cricket and is a crazy fan of Virat Kohli. The family spends
`8,000 on school fee. A major grievance of Mr Lentin is that he cannot afford to take his family on a vacation. Whatever he earns lets them have a hand-to-mouth existence. The salesperson feels the cost of living in the country has become too expensive in recent times. It is tough living for a common man. Even the television cable connection, which was `150 earlier, is now
`350. The salesperson wants the government to provide health benefits for middle class also, so that they too can avail healthcare benefits. Since they are salaried class, it becomes scary when a family person falls ill.
Mr Lentin wants the government to announce a separate policy for middle class, so that they can survive.
Can there be free education for girls in private schools, asks 52-year-old Allakosa Raju, an autorickshaw driver plying his vehicle every day from the wholesale Monda Market in Secunderabad. Raju’s response came when asked what his expectations are from the Union Budget 2020.
His brings in mostly small-time vendors who come to pick up vegetables from Monday Market and sell them in their respective areas. After dropping them at the market, he picks up regular passengers. He has been doing this since last 12 years earning, on an average, `600 to `800 a day and educating his three daughters studying in tenth, eighth and seventh in a private school. His wife is a homemaker.
Raju is a smart worker who started his career as a helper in a kirana shop. He soon realised there was not much earning in the shop and learnt to drive an auto rickshaw. He works 365 days a year, unless he or his wife falls ill. Raju lived in Sitaphalmandi for a very long time but recently moved to near ECIL.
He found it difficult paying the monthly rent of `4,000 in Sitaphalmandi and educate his daughters too. His rent now is `1,500. Most of his monthly income of `20,000 goes towards educating his daughters, and the rest for groceries and rent.
As how his business is, Raju says as weekly vegetable markets have started in many localities, not many vendors are coming to Monday Market to buy vegetables.
He complains of Ola cabs and autos affecting the volume of his business. Asked about his savings, he says, “I am educating my children so that they can have a better life compared to what me and my wife have gone
Dammaiguda through. I am sending them to a private school because they get a better education there. The daily use groceries, apart from soaps and detergents, have become very expensive.
My fuel prices too have been rising all the time. Luckily, it is my own auto, which I bought taking bank loan. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult for me to pay daily rent for the auto.
When asked what his expectations from the government and coming budget are, he says, “We want a budget that makes the common man’s life easier. Why are rates of everything going up; fuel price is high, school fees are high. Can we have a free education for girls in private schools?”