Aditi Murarka Agrawal, 34

Aditi Murarka Agrawal, co-founder of Nestasia, home decor and lifestyle brand

• Who’s she? Co-founder of Nestasia, a home decor and lifestyle brand. Aditi lives in Southern Avenue, part of Kolkata Dakshin, which voted on June 1

• Top issue: Ease of doing business

Aditi feels India has a much better business ecosystem than it did 15 years ago. But there is room for more improvement.

“Now, I have to file applications for different GST numbers in different states. There is a pressing need for uniformity in the process. A centralised system, applicable to all states, will enhance the ease of business,” she said.

She has a manufacturing unit on the northern fringes of Calcutta. Her products are available on online platforms and she has five retail outlets — one in Calcutta and two each in Delhi and Bengaluru. Her brand has a presence in more states through warehouses and business collaborations.

“I have more than a dozen different GST registration numbers. Filing applications for each is time-consuming,” she said.

Although her input costs are rising, for Aditi, it is a “minor blip”.

“We deal in discretionary products. There is a robust demand for our products. It shows that people have spending power,” she said.

Aditi and her partner were based in Hong Kong and Singapore, doing “high-paying jobs”. “We came back and started a business that became successful. This is a testament to the business ecosystem in India.”

Munni Devi Shaw, 48

Munni Devi Shaw, cook with an NGO in north Calcutta

• Who’s she? A cook with an NGO in north Calcutta for two years. She lives in a slum in Paikpara. The area is part of the Kolkata Uttar seat, which voted on June 1

• Top issues: Price rise and jobs

Munni lost her husband in 2019 following which she started working in a plastic factory in Cossipore. She has two daughters, aged 22 and 17, and a 15-year-old son.

At the factory, she earned ₹250 a day. Now, she earns around ₹300 per day.

Her middle child has just cleared her higher secondary exams. She will not continue her studies because her mother cannot afford it.

Munni feels “enraged” when politicians come seeking votes. “As soon as elections are over, you cannot spot them. We are left to fend for ourselves,” she said.

Fending means worrying before spending even a small amount.

“A meal of rice and mashed potatoes is also going to cost you much more than it used to. A kilo of potato costs over ₹30, a kilo of onion costs ₹35,” Munni rattled off.

The family has not bought anything new in at least 15 years. A TV set and a cupboard — both gifted by her parents when she got married in 2000 — adorn their one-room home.

Munni’s husband used to manage the books of a “beauty parlour” in Hatibagan.
The couple’s elder daughter, a graduate, now does the job for around ₹5,500 a month.

“Instead of giving jobs, our leaders are busy dividing people in the name of religion (jaat-paat ke naam par ladha rahe hain),” said Munni.

The only government scheme she has access to is the state government’s widow
pension of ₹1,000 per month.

Shilpa Basu, 38

Shilpa Basu, project manager with a tech services company

• Who’s she? Project manager with a tech services company. She lives in Ballygunge, part of the Kolkata Dakshin seat

• Top issue: India’s image

Shilpa has regular interactions with foreign clients — in the US, Europe and Southeast Asia. These suggest that India has long ago shed her image of “a land of snake-charmers”. People in other countries know that India is on the path of acceleration. But Shilpa often gets asked another set of questions.

Is India gradually becoming a Right-wing Hindu majoritarian country?

What is the condition of minorities
in India?

Is the space for dissent shrinking in India?

“I have been facing these questions for some time now. Mostly during informal interactions with employees of client companies. People are interested in what is happening in India,” she said.

“I want the world to see India as a country on the path of inclusive growth. Not as a country where minorities live in fear,” she said.

Shilpa, mother of a five-year-old girl, also wants the government to do more for higher education.

“Now, even people with limited resources start saving for their children’s higher education outside India. There is a general assumption that when our children grow up, they will leave India for higher studies. This should not be the trend.”

Shyamali Dutta, 36

Shyamali Dutta, help in Kasba

• Who’s she? A domestic help in Kasba. She lives in a slum on Swinhoe Lane under Kolkata Dakshin with her husband, daughter and mother-in-law

• Top issue: Soaring prices

Struggling to make ends meet, Shyamali said: “Our income has not increased but expenses have soared. I have just one prayer for the people who rule the country. Please bring the prices down.”

She earns around ₹3,000 a month. Her husband, a local electrician, was hit hard by the pandemic. He was “without work” for most of 2020 and entire 2021, circumstances that forced his wife to take up the job of a help.

Now, he is back at work but many of his “old customers have shifted to online companies for repair jobs”.

Her husband makes around ₹10,000 a month in the summer, when the demand for new AC connections is high. In monsoon and winter, his income shrinks.

“Before the pandemic, I could go to the market with ₹100 and buy at least something to eat — maybe some small fish or small amounts of different vegetables. Now, it is unthinkable,” she said.

Firewood is almost the sole cooking medium though she has an LPG connection. She uses cooking gas only to heat pre-cooked food or make tea. “It is also used when multiple dishes have to be cooked. That way, I can save one cylinder every month,” she said.

A 14.2kg LPG cylinder now costs around ₹850.

She gets ₹1,000 in Lakshmir Bhandar from the Mamata Banerjee government and her mother-in-law gets another ₹1,000 as widow pension.

Khurshida Oruj, 35

Khurshida Oruj, Urdu teacher in a high school near College Street market.

• Who’s she? Urdu teacher at a high school near College Street market. She lives in Rajabazar, part of the Kolkata Uttar constituency

• Top issues: Jobs, education and communal harmony

The creation of jobs should be the primary focus of the new government, feels Khurshida.

“The biggest problem in the country is the lack of employment opportunities. It is the reason for many other problems. The youth have nothing to do other than fidgeting phones. We know that an empty mind is a devil’s workshop,” she said.

She knows several people in her neighbourhood who have a master’s degree but they end up doing menial odd jobs.

The Indian economy, despite its growth rate, has failed to generate enough jobs for the country’s large and expanding young population. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, an economic think tank, the unemployment rate was 7.6% in March.

Khurshida, who has been teaching for close to 15 years, thinks the education system needs an overhaul. The no-fail policy needs scrapping first, she thinks.

“You cannot give promotion to everybody till Class VIII. Many children and their parents do not give enough importance to their studies because of this norm. They are getting promoted without learning anything,” said Khurshid.

She linked the sorry state of affairs to “politicians who are busy polarising people”.

“Why should we, Muslims, live in fear? This is as much our country as anyone else’s. Communal amity is central to India’s progress. People who govern the country should realise that,” she said.