Rs 5 per day, 3 bars of soap and one pair of slippers every year.

As India is in the midst of a general election, with hundreds of experts speculating on which politicians will form the next government and enjoy the riches that come with it, thousands of our fellow citizens are facing starvation in refugee camps in Tripura. These are people of a tribe called the Bru who fled from the adjoining state of Mizoram in 1995 when young Mizos attacked them. "Take immediate steps for distribution of ration, otherwise all the displaced Brus will have to launch a democratic agitation, including a blockade of road and looting of Government relief Godown under the banner of MBDPF," they wrote in a letter. MBDPF stands for 'Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples Forum'. At present, government assistance to the Bru consists of "Rs 5 per day and 600 grams of rice to each adult migrant, Rs 2.50 to each minor, three soaps in a year, one pair of slippers every year and a mosquito net in every three years". This is nowhere near the average of Rs 181 per day for 100 days a year under the MGNREGA scheme, or the Rs 6,000 being distributed to all farmers every year by this government, or the Rs 72,000 promise by Mr Rahul Gandhi to 50 million poor families, should the Congress win the election. There is no shortage of food in India as an increase in production and fall in exports has led to low food prices. "Compared with population growth of 14% over the last 10 years, production of pulses, vegetables, fruit, milk, eggs and meat has grown between 40% and 84%," wrote M Nandurkar. Lower food prices are not because of a glut in production but because of low demand, wrote R Kishore. "The latest available data (for 2013) shows that among 177 countries in the FAO's list, India is ranked 137th in food supply per capita, 145th in protein supply per capita and 146th in fat supply per capita." Food prices have dropped globally, so that even in the US, "where farming is extremely mechanised and practiced on very large farms, prices cannot cover the cost of production for important crops such as wheat and cotton". Demand for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), which are articles of daily use is falling in rural areas. Demand for private and commercial vehicles is weak and companies have reduced production to manage inventories. Our steel exports have fallen while imports have increased and household savings fell to 17.2% of GDP in 2017-18. The World Bank has advised India to grow the share of exports in the economy and not depend on domestic demand. Tribal people are ignored by every government, even though they are the original Indians. Perhaps, the Bru could manage with 2 bars of soap and sell one for food while they watch politicians celebrate victory with alligator smiles, thick garlands and sweet laddoos. That is what elections are all about.