India
Looking at the international news these days you would be forgiven for thinking that India has completed its transformation from third-world backwater to global super-power over the past few years. And to some extent the pictures painted are accurate.Sadly, what is masked by the news stories is the physical reality for those that are left behind whilst the economic miracle happens around them.
| India now boasts more dollar billionaires than any other country in the world yet 35% of the population still live on less than $1 per day,the World Bank's definition of poverty. |
Driven by a desire to join the boom, migration into cities in search of work is on the rise. These migrant workers, often unskilled, have to live and work in appalling conditions. Just taking Bangalore and Chennai, more than ½ a million per city live in slums. And in rural communities, subsistence is the best that most people can hope for – the case for over 70 million people in the two states we mainly work in.
With a total population of 1.1 billion across the country, statistics can obscure the brutal truth – whilst the national economy is booming there are many people struggling to carve out an independent future for themselves and their families.
All of this is why the Zurich Community Trust’s India Programme was started and continues to operate over 13 years later.
Our primary aim is to use Zurich's resources to help our partners reach the most disadvantaged sections of society by building their capacity.
