POVERTY FORCES VILLAGERS IN INDIA'S EASTERN STATE TO SELL THEIR KIDNEY

NATURAL WITH BENGALI SPEECH

DURATION: 1.14

SOURCE: ANI

TV AND WEB RESTRICTIONS: NO ACCESS BBC

Poverty forces villagers in India's eastern state to sell their kidney.

Poverty-stricken villagers in India's eastern West Bengal are forced to sell their kidney as they do not have money to run their family.

SHOWS:

DINAJPUR, WEST BENGAL, INDIA (APRIL 02, 2012) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC)

1. HUTS ADJACENT TO A DESERTED ROAD

2. LOCALS STANDING

3. LOCAL SHOWING SCAR ON HIS BODY AFTER SELLING HIS KIDNEY

4. FACE OF THE LOCAL

5. ANOTHER LOCAL SHOWING SCAR ON HIS BODY

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Bengali) KIDNEY SELLER, NURUL ISLAM, SAYING: "The Government has provided us no monetary support to run my family. I am very poor and I saw that the people who sell their kidney did not face any problem after operation. So, I sold my kidney. The racketeers told me that if I give them my kidney they would give me huge amount of money."

7. A LOCAL SHOWING SCAR ON HIS BODY

8. SCAR ON THE LEFT SIDE OF HIS BODY

9. LOCAL SHOWING SCAR ON HIS BODY AFTER SELLING HIS KIDNEY

STORY: Locals from Bindole village near Raiganj sub-division under north Dinajpur district of eastern India's West-Bengal state were forced to sell their kidneys so that they would have sufficient money to run their families as they reel under poverty.

"The Government has provided us no monetary support to run my family. I am very poor and I saw that the people who sell their kidney did not face any problem after operation. So, I sold my kidney. The racketeers told me that if I give them my kidney they would give me huge amount of money," said kidney seller, Nurul Islam.

The villagers were paid rupees 60,000($ 1,180.39) to 70,000 ($ 1,376.13) rupees for selling their kidneys.

The failure of the local administration to address their woes and provide them with any monetary assistance forced the villagers to sell their kidneys.

According to the estimates of the World Bank, there are 828 million Indians living in poverty, accounting for two thirds of the overall Indian population.

For the Indians, the latest standard for the poverty line in 2012 is 22.43 rupees (about 0.45 US dollars) per day for rural areas and 28.65 rupees (about 0.57 US dollars) per day in towns and cities; whereas the Word Bank Standard poverty line is less than two dollars per day.

A World Bank report had said that attempts by the Indian government to combat poverty failed to yield the desired result and aid programmes were beset by corruption, bad administration and under-payments.

($ 1 = Rs. 50.86)