Shankarnath (Balraj Sahni) is an honest Government employee, while his subordinate Sadhuram (Om Prakash) is a corrupt employee. Shankarnath, even though employed in a supervisory capacity, nets only Rs.630/-, and hence is unable to accede to any of the demands placed by his three school-going children, Ravi, Roopa, and Raja. When the trio declares a hunger-fast until their demands are met, he decides to let them run the household expenses, for a period of six months, by giving Ravi his entire salary. Ravi thinks that he can save a lot of money and get stuff for himself and his siblings - but things go seriously wrong when Raja loses money while gambling; relatives descend on them during Diwali; cash is stolen; and his mother, Padma (Nirupa Roy), becomes seriously ill.