As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am a strong proponent of free markets and small governments. I also believe, unless the circumstances are compelling enough, government charity is not such a great idea. But that does not mean, I am against charity.
I think private charity is a great idea. Someone with the pockets of Bill Gates and his vision and commitment can do wonders, far more than any government will ever do. For one, they are putting their own money on line. Second, they are simply far more focused. But even charity done on a smaller scale can work wonders. As this example of a unique coaching institute in Bihar shows.
They scoured Bihar’s least privileged communities for 30 bright students to coach for the exam, providing free lessons and housing. They call their group the Super 30. “Intelligence is not birth-specific,” says Abhayanand. In the first year, 16 of the group made it into the IITs. The next year, 22 made it. “This year,” Kumar says confidently, “all 30 will get into the IITs.”
Good job!
Sadly, our socialist nation with all it’s attendant concern for the poor cannot ensure primary education for them. And how much are we spending on new IITs and IIM’s-20000 crores? Give or take a few thousand.
More power to the duo and less to the government!
(link via Jyo)
Filed under: Public Policy, Views On News
Thank you Rohit
I brushed aside a charming siesta with Tom Holt to watch this set of capsules inserted between “Rang De Basanthi”…a movie reflects “The Awakening” in most of us. I never expected that would become a media property for a mega brand Asian Paints….
I salute the thinkers,the team and Aamir Khan who introduced a few great people*faceless who are creating a better society in their own way,in some narrow gullies…I again felt how inferior human I could be…but felt, the least I could do is to push it a bit through a high-mileage blogger like you…luminaries,me scared of!..so that many could read about them n reach out to them
#Super 30
a small group of desperately poor, talented students have made it into the IITs, thanks to the Ramanujan School of Mathematics….and the founders,Anand Kumar, a local mathematician, and Abhayanand, 52, Patna’s deputy director general of police and a lover of physics…founded the school in 2003 to help promising locals get ahead in the caste-based society….getting goose-bumps!
…sir Abhayanand said “I would be happier, if at least 5% of these bright students come back to us, after their IIT education,to support our endeavours,to plough back into the society”
…Anand who could not plug self-into one of the prestigious universities in UK worked towards nurturing brighter kids from the poorer strata of the society! parents of the best youngster who joined IIT-Mumbai dnot even know what IIT is…
Jyo
Hug a Tree
I beg to disagree.
When it comes down to specifics, nobody does anything for charity. They all do it either for monetary benefits that arises out of the advertisement value of the charity, or to satisfy their own vanity.
The result is that the charity reflects on what serves the donor’s purpose, and not what the beneficiaries require. Government charity however is run by the people (theoretically atleast), and hopefully it will reflect the requirements of the poor people.
Another point is that charity should not leave the poor people in a debt of gratitude. It shouldn’t drive them into converting into Christianity, for example, out of gratitude to the church.
This is purely a personal sentiment, i.e. if I were a donor, these are the reasons why I would prefer government charity to private charity.
Hey…The illustration is very charming and one woul dwant to believe it in all probability. But if yo utake the vast scenario, dont you think tht 100 percent litracy in a state or many such things wont be possible unless Gvmt sponsored the huge population….Maybe I am offline here but if private parties do some good, it is commendable but maybe the Gvmt can do their share of things too…..
We know so many private ppl who are doing so much good to the society- orphanages and wht not…But tht is not reflective of the humongous population in all areas. Both private and Gvmt working together, each their own would encompass more people, not tht every student who studies till grade 10 in public school go on for higher studies but how many private ppl will sponsor only tht…Anyways , as mentioned before, no matter how corrupt or less or non effective the Gvmt is, writing them off completely is not the best thing to do acording to me…Take care man!
@Karthik
Aditya Birla Group scholarships come to my mind spontaneously, which is tribute to the late Aditya Birla’s vision of creating “Global leaders”. Do you think this is an Advertising gimmick? dnot you think this is an ingredient of the corporate vision? every organisation is founded on certain belief sytems and is driven by a vision*for growth.
I certainly appreciate that more and more private organisations are coming forward as responsible citizens of the country and participating actively in one’s enhancement, could be educational support,infrastructure,rural upliftment programmes.e-Chaupal by ITC group is one of that kind where it created a platform for the farmers to get exposed a much broader consumerscape.
http://www.pcquest.com/content/implementation/2004/204061001.asp
I dnot think these huge corporate bodies need a rural upliftment programme to satisfy their vanity. going back to Aditya Birla foundation, students from premier institutions – the IIMs,the IITs and BITS Pilani are chosen based on their excellence in various fields,the demonstration of leadership qualities.
I say, this is an active dialogue, a corporate body, is initiating with its environment,the people,the society, it’s part of.
Intel and HP runs these kind of corporate programmes…many others..too!
the CEO or the vision leader, if you see,is the spokesperson,the human face for many
Technology firms like Microsoft, Infosys,Apple,Sony etc etc . you identify Steve Jobs with Apple,Bill Gates with Microsoft,Mr Narayana murthy with Infosys…they reflect the set of values each organisation stands for. Steve Jobs is ever enthusiastic, passionate..Apple is innovation.Steve Jobs is maverick, so is Apple the brand. The leaders are brands! who needs mileage from those relatively smaller benefit bodies, when these organisations are being led by the towering presence of its leaders?
perhaps,the word charity is throwing us off.it’s outdated.I have nothing against Govt.based endorsements, it’s just they are not so proactive and as Rohit said, the ones by private bodies are like well-oiled machines..n sustained..n let’s not forget the adequacy of loopholes around Govt. anyway, the primary focus of this article was the initiatives by individuals,driven by an ambition, a desire, which people like me love to articulate and tend to sleep over it for sometime.
Anand and Abhayanand,the protagonists up there, I believe, bel0ng to this tiny minority called “Samaritans”. They are DRIVEN.A CAUSE.
Jyo
these days, advertising is not just to lure consumers into the brand fold, but to build value (long term and sustained) around it and establish a sturdier relatability..just a tiny xample,….Fair & Lovely, the fairness cream, {most Indian women,well men too,especially in TN …a tool for transforming their complexion.now we have mens’ range) used to celebrate “fairer complexion n skin”. Now the brand’s key activation thought is “Change your destiny”….and many consumer interactive programmes are woven around the brand,say, Women entrepreneurs programmes,Scholarships for higher education. you are looking at one of the mega brands from HLL/LEVERS…now think of their 100 odd MEGA brands and their respective programmes.
world is changing boy {to Karthik)….much faster than you could think …..Jyo
Jyo,
You are welcome. Thank you for poiting out such a heart-warming story.
KRC,
There is nothing to be found by speculating about people’s motives while doing charity. Suppose, Gates invests about 20 Biilion $ for charity and it helps a lot of people. In this process Gates is able to make some money too, does this somehow take away something from what he has done?
Second, government charity has been shown to be a miserable failure. And that is why the whole empahsis on private charity. Its all about how involved you are in the money.
Finally, if someone decides to convert to christianty because of charity, whats wrong with it?
Confused,
“In this process Gates is able to make some money too, does this somehow take away something from what he has done?”
My point is that Gates is going to do that kind of charity which gives him best returns. And there is no reason to believe that what gives Gates best returns is what the poor require most. I am not trying to take away anything from what he has done. But it is not charity.
I am just saying that if the beneficiaries were to decide the nature of the charity, it would serve their purposes better. Which is why, theoretically, government charity is more efficient in serving the needs of the poor.
Of course, there is corruprion. But is corruption a necessary feature of every govt. transaction? Is there no hope of having a transparent govt. system in the future?
“Finally, if someone decides to convert to christianty because of charity, whats wrong with it?”
The problem is that they are just replacing the debt of money with the debt of gratitude. They make these people feel indebted, and hint the debts can be paid back by converting to Christianity. There is little service in that. Do it, by all means. But don’t call it service.
I prefer charity that places the beneficiary in no debt, of any kind. If it results in his losing his freedom of religion, though by his own volition, then I don’t want to have anything to do with it.
My idea of charity is they who are going to benefit from should decide what kind of charity it should be. Whether the schools need blackboards or laptops, for e.g. The donor should just be the facilitator.
Karthik : At the end of the day, Bill Gates ends up giving money to a lot of people who need money – so a lot of needs of the poor do get fulfilled.
Going by your reasoning one can as well say that the Government is doing all this to satisfy other political parties/ to get the support of people. If “theoretically” Government has good intentions, then theoretically people also can have good intentions to help.
Which do you think is a more serious problem : debt of money which cripples the entire life or debt of gratitude? For that matter I need to have gratitude to my parents for bringing me up, to fate for my birth in an upper middle class family etc. Christian missionaries have the vested interest of increasing their fan following just as parents have the vested interests related to their ego, as well as societal prestige. I agree many Christian missionaries do harm but not for the reasons you mention.
Government can in fact play deterrent : in fact the Government of Kerala for a long time refused to grant permission to Mata Amritanandamayi Math to construct houses after the Tsunami – as far as I know, by the time the Kerala Government gave them the permission finally they had constructed some 3000 homes in Tamil Nadu.
I wish charity statistics were available so that one could compare contributions from Government and private hands. Because I am not sure private contributions put together will amount to anywhere near Government contributions.
Wahi to.
I find it amazing that the so called socialists, who claim to strive for equality and welfare for all have the maximum disorder, and while the capitalist free markets (espoused by right-wing conservatives) actually do much better job.
Notice how well the economy was going when the right-wing BJP was in power. Of course, the swadeshi thing was somewhat nonsensical, but they were also not in favour of intrusive and smothering government control in industries and commerce.
Sighssss… i remember the days when interest rates were so low, and buying stuff on EMIs was affordable. Now its all screwed up, thanks to the “anti-rich” supposedly pro-aam-aadmi CPM guys in the government. (Maybe leftists are not to blame, since the Congress itself is much leftist and control-quota-repressive in nature)
@jyothsnay,
Well, isnt it an exercise in advertizing and public relations on parts of Microsoft and Warren Buffett. Or the Tatas in our local scene. I recall the Tata Steel advertizement wherein they show schools set up in villages, and contributing to the society.
Well of course, I am not complaining, if everyone stands to gain by such an activity. Rich industries giving back to society what they have got from them.
Dear frog,
I made it clear that my intention is not to impose restrictions to those who do what they call as service, but which is basically done to suit their own interests.
I just pointed out that it can’t be called charity.
The case of the government is different. The govt. has to please the people, the objects of the charity. It will arguably give them what they need most.
@Shadows
well,it can be considered as part of Corporate Branding. But this kind of foundations are set up to demonstrate the philanthropic facet of an oragnisation. so, which option serves better or which one yields the best in the long run,as Karthik said above,is baseless. or shall I say, it’s just a cynical way of looking at things.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has a $30 billion endowment. While Bill Clinton motivates well known organisations and luminaries like Madonna etc.. to mobilise funds…The Gates Foundation is believed to be working on an AIDS vaccine, while Clinton vying for immediate restriction on death due the same…..
through increasing access to Vaccines and Immunization, and the Green revolution projects in Africa, I wonder, how many more sacks of millions Bill Gates would like to garner, if I find some base in Karthik’s point.
It’s nothing but giving back to the society.Empowering the poorer strata.
Jyo
KRC,
With due respects, it is a very narrow definition of charity. As the google.org example shows, even charities can strive to make money.
Money talks, No?
FC Barcelona Club Football fans :
UNICEF and Barcelona Team Up for Children
The European football club, Barcelona and UNICEF kicked off a global partnership to benefit children in the developing world. The first beneficiaries would be vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS in Swaziland….
For the first time in the Club’s 107-yr history,the Barcelona FC team took this radical move, away from a cornucopia of Brand endorsements n to sport the UNICEF logo on the front. The first years’ donation would support programs in Swaziland, aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV
…….. Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director, during the announcement of the new partnership at the United Nations. “Barcelona shows us that sports can be a powerful, positive force for children.”
This sporting club has been philanthropic and committed to social, cultural, educational and humanitarian activities in Catalonia…”More than a Club.”
and you know that the club pays UNICEF to sport its logo….do you call this one more feeble effort to achieve high mileage or a philanthropic move?
[...] As I have said before, I am a great believer in private charity. Infact, as google.org attempts to show, charity can and should be profitable. [...]
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