India, Feb. 18 -- Johra's woes are unending as poverty seeps deeper into the lives of some 1,000 villagers - farmers, daily wage earners and semi-skilled workers etc. A financial loan most families of this western Uttar Pradesh village had taken from a private chit company three years ago remains unpaid and the interest is only piling up.
"Life is not the same," says Salman, a carpenter, who is supporting his family of four children and wife with his small earnings. He had met this reporter 50 days after the currency ban announced by the Narendra Modi government over two years ago with the aim of curbing the use of black money. His dreams and aspirations had collapsed suddenly as his assignment ended abruptly as people put off woodwork du...