Tourism is one of the important areas that contributes to our nation’s economy. While most of the places attract visitors for their scenic beauty, architecture, and culture, a few of them get romanticised for its poverty. Especially after Slumdog Millionaire, the 2008 Hollywood film that advertised Mumbai’s Dharavi in a negative light.

A still from Slumdog Millionaire

Turns out, not just Dharavi, slums in Delhi are also on the advertising list. So, apparently, people have been organising walking tours to Delhi slums and one such tourism package has grabbed our attention on Twitter.

A Twitter user, @tanishka_s2, shared some screenshots of the package posted on Trip Advisor, a travel company, which features details of the walking tour. It boasts to provide a ‘first-hand glimpse of life’ in a Delhi slum and costs ₹1800 for the 3-hour-long walk.

The user slammed the tour as she wrote, “Rs 1,800 to get a “first hand glimpse of life in a Delhi slum”.”

Check it out here:

Netizens are disgusted, surprised, shocked, and more. Check out their reactions.

such tours are nothing but avenues for providing voyeuristic experience to the rich, it’s poverty porn. disgusting (sic). 

-@rishmunjall

“Poverty Porn” – when you objectify people in poverty for the sake of entertaining a privileged audience (sic). 

-@AnushaSooriyan

This is everything wrong with this world. Rich people earning money on the backs of people who barely have basic human rights and then they’ll claim ” we are apolitical” . Aur hum bhi kam nahi hain jo Twitter pe angrezi main likh rhe hain ispe (sic). 

-@madhav________

One of our MPhil profs conducted an exact same “tour” for us in FC and I just couldn’t get myself to go. Call it whatever you want but it felt extremely disrespectful and weird (sic). 

-@booksNowls

Unfortunately, some Twitter users feel otherwise.

Making money out of someone’s misery is so not cool! Advertising underprivileged for the sake of entertaining privileged is definitely a sick act. From 2008 (Slumdog Millionaire release) to 2022, nothing has changed, poverty is still on sale.