Vishav Bharti

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Priti David

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<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Gokul works with fire, day in and day out. He turns iron red hot, beats it and moulds it. The sparks make small and big holes in his clothes and his shoes; the burns on his hands are witness to the share of his hard labour in moving the wheels of the Indian economy.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“ Kya hunda hai [What the hell is that]?” he says when asked if has heard of the budget.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">It’s less than 48 hours after the Union Budget of 2025 was unveiled in Parliament and the news flashed across the country. But for Gokul, a nomadic ironsmith from the Bagria community, nothing has changed.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“Listen, nobody has done anything for us. Close to 700-800 years have passed like this only. Our generations have been buried in Punjab’s soil. Nobody has given us anything,” says the ironsmith in his forties.

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Gokul has been camping in a jhopdi (makeshift hut) on the periphery of village Mauli Baidwan in Mohali district of Punjab. He lives here with his tribesmen who trace their roots to Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“What will they give now?” he wonders.&nbsp;The government might not have given anything to people like Gokul but he certainly pays 18 per cent to the government for each piece of iron he purchases; five per cent for the coal with which he burns fire to mould iron. He also pays the government for his tools – a hammer and sickle – and for every grain of the food he eats.

The Union Budget has missed this anvil

કેન્દ્રીય બજેટનો હથોડો એરણ ચૂકી ગયો છે

بجٹ سے باہر کر دیے گئے لوگوں کا سوال

बजेट काही ऐरणीवरचा प्रश्न नाही

కేంద్ర బడ్జెట్‌కు కానరాని కమ్మరులు

सरकारी बजट से लापता भइल लुहार

बजट मं बिसोरे घुमंतू लोहार 

নিহাৰিত নপৰিল কেন্দ্ৰীয় বাজেটৰ চকু 

କେନ୍ଦ୍ର ବଜେଟରେ ଯାଯାବର କମାର ସମ୍ପ୍ରଦାୟକୁ ଅଣଦେଖା

ಅಡಿಗಲ್ಲು ಇಲ್ಲದ ಕೇಂದ್ರದ ಬಜೆಟ್

കേന്ദ്ര ബഡ്ജറ്റിന്റെ പുറത്തുള്ളവർ

ஒன்றிய பட்ஜெட்டில் இடம்பெறாத இரும்புப் பட்டறைக் கல்

নেহাই থেকে ফসকে গেছে কেন্দ্রীয় বাজেটের হাতুড়ি 

ਅਸੀਂ ਨਾ ਤਿੰਨਾਂ 'ਚੋਂ ਨਾ ਤੇਰ੍ਹਾਂ 'ਚੋਂ

सरकारी बजट में गिनती से बाहर

Mohali

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The Union Budget has missed this anvil

A nomadic ironsmith labouring in Punjab asks what the government has done for people like him

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