Additional information for teachers

It is very difficult to keep up to date with information on the cost of living in Tamil Nadu. It has continued to rise since we were last there in 2006 and whilst Fair Trade workers have had increases in line with inflation, unskilled workers are unlikely to have had an equivalent increase. The government now gives a rice allowance of 10 kilos of low grade rice to the very poorest families and this rice can also be purchased for as little as Rs2 per kilo. Low income families do therefore have a rather monotonous diet of rice and lentils (dal). They will only have vegetables when they can afford it and meat rarely. ‘Cholam’ which is a gruel made from millet is drunk, with some pickle to give it flavour, for breakfast and lunch by very low income families. It is considered to be food for the very poor and some families reject it for that reason.

As in the UK local factors affect the cost of provisions and utilities and the devastating flooding in Chennai in 2006 made the cost of many vegetables prohibitive for local families and caused hardship within the community. In 2008 the problems with bird flu have had a dramatic effect on the price of mutton and beef in the village. Chicken has remained at Rs60 per kilo but mutton has risen from Rs 120 per kilo to Rs180. More surprisingly the cost of beef has more than doubled. This used to be a cheaper option, at Rs30 per kilo, for low income and Christian families who were prepared to eat beef but it now costs Rs70!

The following chart may be useful as a rough guide to the cost of food and other commodities in 2008. It may be possible to make some comparisons between the UK and K.V.Kuppam. Exchange rates have fluctuated over the last few years between 75 and 83 rupees to £1.

A skilled tradesman could earn up to 100 rupees a day but work is not available every day; employees of the fair trade company can earn about 115 rupees a day but they have many additional benefits such as health care and pension fund; many agricultural and unskilled workers earn 50 rupees or less. Again work is often seasonal. Professional people such as nurses and government teachers earn from 6,000 -8,000 rupees per month. Non- government teachers earn much less, about 2,500 rupees per month.

Many families, but not all, now have electricity which costs about Rs50 per month to supply light and TV for two small rooms. If the family have more lights, electric grinders, sewing machines, music systems, etc it can cost Rs150-200 per month.

In 2008 the DMK government led by M Karunanadhi has started fulfilling their election promise by giving a Kilo of Rice for Rs.2 in the ration shops and also providing free colour televisions for the people who don’t have TV in their homes. Not all families have electricity! They have also begun to provide an allowance for LPG gas in a few areas.

Many families will have only a couple of sets of clothes. Twice a year, at Pongal and Divali, they will spring clean the house thoroughly, replace old equipment and purchase a new set of clothes for each member of the family. These clothes have to last for the rest of the year but the women will often borrow a sari from family or friends for a special occasion and they will have two or three sari blouses which match a sari to add variety. The women of Tamil Nadu take great pride in their appearance and unless they are in mourning they will also usually have fresh flowers in their hair.

Frustratingly K.V.Kuppam is only 6km outside an enhanced area on Google Earth but it is possible to view Vellore, the closest large town to K.V.Kuppam, and follow the tree lined road and the railway line west from Katpadi Junction just North of Vellore. The road heads north over the railway bridge and then turns sharp left towards Gudiyattum. This will give children the opportunity to see how the landscape changes quite quickly from urban to rural. They can also see how arid the area is other than coconut groves, fields of paddy and other crops that have been irrigated from bore holes or wells. The monsoons have failed badly over the past decade and although they have had some rain it is never enough to make the Palar River flow again. Its dried up bed is also clearly visible. Drinking water is pumped from below this river to the village of KVK.

Some teachers have shown an interest in linking with a school in the area but at present it is not feasible to set up an email link or correspondence with a school in K.V.Kuppam. There are very few internet facilities and most of the children and many of the teachers speak only Tamil.

We hope you will enjoy using this web site and would welcome any feedback or suggestions for additional information that could be included.
Please contact Pam Morris pam@kvkuppam.info if you would like further information or you have any suggestions for useful links or ideas on improving the web site. Pam can also be available, by negotiation, for talks and workshops.

Some schools have held fund raising activities to support the work of The One Candle Project. It costs around £20 per year to support a child from a lower income family in secondary and higher secondary school in the K.V.Kuppam area and we hope to build up this fund so we can help more children, particularly in the outlying villages. Please do contact Pam if you feel able to support us with this.

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