Asset declaration is an occasional election feature that seeks to bring out through a question-and-answer session whether lives have changed for the better or the worse in the past five years

Name & Age: Arjun Rai, 54

Education & Profession: Middle school; unskilled labourer

Family & Place: Wife and three daughters; Raghopur, Hajipur

Do you earn more or less, compared with 2019?

Broadly the same, maybe a little less, prices are high

Do you save more or less compared with 2019?

Not a chance

What things does your house now have that it did not in 2019?

We have one mobile phone, cinema wala nahin

What things does your neighbourhood have that it did not in 2019?

Nothing is new

Have central/state govt schemes made any difference to your life? How?

We get some rice, yes, and I am told health insurance is also available but I have not taken it

Do your children go to school? If it’s a govt school, then has there been any change in standards/ infrastructure?

My daughters, two of them, go to sarkari school. I don’t know about standards

Do you encounter more corruption or less in your daily life? Can you cite from personal experience areas where you are directly affected by corruption?

Corruption is everywhere and has always been there, what’s new? I am meant to get five kilos of free rice, I get only four. So? And this is at a very small level

Hajipur voted on May 20