‘My son lost his job during demonetisation but at least it removed black money’

The Bharatiya Janata Party and Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 on the promise of bringing “achhe din” – prosperous days – for Indians. But the last decade has brought formidable challenges for vast sections of Indians, especially those at the bottom of the pyramid. What is on the mind of voters who are struggling with joblessness and income insecurity? Will they still vote for Narendra Modi? Or is their enchantment with the party fading? Scroll reporters find out in a new series, No achhe din, but…

It is 10 am and at least 20 villagers are already waiting in queue outside the ration shop in Kheri village in western Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar district.

Among them is Kaushalya Kumar, 67, who has been here since 9 am. “I was in the queue the day before yesterday too,” she said, visibly annoyed. “The new machine had stopped working.”

She was referring to the electronic point of sale machine that needs fingerprint authentication to allow villagers to collect flour and rice under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

The machine was set up in the village in March, said Satvir Singh, who manages the local ration shop. “In March, we distributed rations over eight days because this thing kept...

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