Challenges
1.48 Billion Souls
Population Tripled Since 1970
5th Richest Nation
Population and Poverty
India is today the world’s most populous country with over 1.48 Billion souls. Its populaion has nearly tripled in the past 50 years. It is the fifth richest country in the world, but 129th in wealth per capita. The lingering caste system and widespread poverty of the lower castes has resulted
in between 150-350 Million Indians living in extreme poverty, depending on hotly debated government figures.
129th Nation In
Wealth Per Capita
Hundreds Of Millions In Extreme Poverty
The Sudra people are the largest and lowest economic class in India, more than the entire US population
Caste and Culture
Largest and lowest of the four castes of Hinduism, the Sudra (or Shudra) people are the menial labor class, roughly equivalent to the peasants of medieval Europe. Mostly illiterate and living in constant fear of starvation, the Sudra of India are more populous than the entire United States. Locked into a generational cycle of ignorance and illiteracy, reproduction and manual labor, a Sudra child is unlikely to ever learn how to read and write his native language of Telugu, let alone Hindi or English. While about 20% of the Sudra rise to economic stability and even power, the vast majority live in poverty or extreme poverty, with rural families struggling to find enough day labor jobs across the country to feed themselves. Most Christans in India are Sudra, as is the Bontha family.
Most Sudra adults are illiterate manual laborers living in constant fear of starvation
Locked Into A Generational Cycle of Illiteracy, Reproduction and Manual Labor
The lifecycle of a Sudra boy and girl follows a predictably sad pattern: both will be working illegally by age 5 or 6, the girl married at 14 and the boy at 17, having 2-4 children in quick succession before sterilization by 20, and full time manual labor until injury, death or disease prevents work by about 55, when they revert to childcare roles for their grandchildren and great grandchildren until their death in their 60’s or 70’s. Many of them will die of respiratory diseases, kidney failure and cancers due to the unsafe and polluted work environments they are forced into to survive.
The Politics of Religion
The three main religions of India are Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Estimates vary based on
the source, but Hindus represent the vast majority at 80% or more, Muslims at around 12%, and
Christians anywhere from 1.5 to 10%, depending on sources.
Government benefits for the extreme poor, like the Sudra, are largely only available to professing Hindus. In many states in India, Christians are restricted from attending the best schools and universities and cannot construct church buildings. Most Christians in India are Sudra, so they are often faced with deprivation or compromising their faith. There are many legal restrictions on receiving support for non-Hindu groups from outside of India as well.
