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India's poor not hopeful of sops in new govt’s budget

AFP, New Delhi
A Savitri Devi, a housemaid working in the Indian capital New Delhi, is not too optimistic her life will change for the better after India's left leaning and pro-poor government unveils its annual budget next week.
Devi, 32, a migrant from the northern state of Rajasthan who arrived to New Delhi a decade ago to better her prospects, believes that like her hopes of prosperity, her meagre takings will be further eroded by inflation.
Devi and her husband Suresh Kumar were among the millions who voted for the Congress party when it last year contested national polls under the slogan, "The Congress is for the common people."
The message struck a chord and a Congress-led alliance swept to power, ousting the Hindu nationalists who were perceived to be prorich.
Those who supported Congress say it's now pay-back time and are looking to the party to make good its promise when it presents its annual Budget to parliament on Monday.
The performance of the coalition so far, however, does not give much cause for optimism, said Devi, pointing in particular to galloping inflation which has eaten into the
5,000 rupees (111 dollars) she and her husband manage to rake between them each month.
"I do the cleaning in three to four houses and also work as a part-time cook for about 27 days a month. My husband irons clothes. But we can't seem to earn enough. We hardly have any savings. Prices are so high," she said.
Her husband agreed.
"The government said they were with us, but I can't feel that. Each government says they are for us, but what does that mean? Prices only keep going up," he said.
Nirmal Kumar, an auto-rickshaw driver, who earns about 6,000 rupees (133 dollars) a month, is equally downcast.
"I voted for Congress but I am disappointed. I hardly have any savings. I had to send my wife and daughter back to the village since life is so expensive here," he said.
India's inflation -- vulnerable to global oil prices -- peaked at 8.74 percent in August from 4.32 percent in April but last month fell to below six percent.
Devi, her husband and autodriver Kumar all fall into India's lower middle class category and lead a relatively comfortable existence compared to the 350-400 million Indians who live on less than a dollar
a day, according to World Bank figures.
India's Planning Commission, the national planner, says as many as 60 percent of India's rural population and 20 percent urban households do not have access to power.
Only 60 percent of urban households have access to clean drinking water in their homes and 35 percent of India's billion plus population are illiterate, according to 2001 census figures.
During its campaigning, the Congress promised to improve these statistics.
It said it would guarantee 100 days of work for the urban and rural poor, would increase public spending on education and provide incentives to boost the agricultural production that accounts for a quarter of India's gross domestic product.
In his first budget last July, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram doubled credit to farmers and gave money for completion of irrigation projects, improvement of rural infrastructure and restoration of village ponds for irrigation.