8/16/2021 Post 4.1
Many appreciated my concern and some commented on it. Since it is a grave area which affects us we should look for alternative development approaches.
Let us start a new thread poverty and development.
Mr B Sambamurty raised a concern about my wish to reduce poverty.
“We are unable to eliminate poverty. Both strategy and execution is a problem. We have enough. Corruption at all levels is too deep rooted and getting worse by the day. Hope and wish that no fellow Indian goes to bed without food, clean water, education for children and basic health care.”
Mr P Ravi one of the founders of Integra micro systems echoes this more.
“Thank you, Sir. We have fallen into the global inequality trap, where the top 1% owns more than 50% of the global wealth, and this latter percentage has been growing”
He continues:
“Global legislation is unlikely to happen, unless we can reach some agreement like climate change. Reports like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation owning huge farmlands are disturbing. Legislative changes have to be well thought out. A lot of sustained pressure by altruistic groups is required to overcome vested interests.”
Let us look at Gandhiji s quote
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Is this workable? Is education helping? Does this interest us or we drop it?
We will continue further on this thread if there is interest in discussions.
8/17/2021 Post 4.2
There are many responses.
Mr A L Bharat , an entrepreneur says:
“Morning , My feeling is that to get rid of poverty the people should be made aware of their rights,which can happen only when people are educated enough and empowered with information.”
Education is the focus and access to data and information.
Mr A L Sriram commented as:
” Yes . This is an important area of concern and I need a good deal of knowledge on this subject. Your guidance will be useful. And that apart, the recent geopolitical developments ( Taliban taking over Kabul) and its resultant after effects or rather likely aftermath is worrisome, as I fear, it could disturb the peace, well being and regular conduct of life. I don’t know if the scope of our discussions could touch upon this aspect too?”
Dr Mathur, EQUATE LLP wants to know about the reservation aspect:
“Even after 75 years our country facing major issues like poverty and a huge gap between haves and havenots.
Our country had decided to provide reservation to poor for 10 years only.
How should we perceive Reservation in today’s context.”
Ms. Bharathi Prabhu talks about small groups helping people.
“This is a thread of vital importance.
We are becoming inured to gross and intolerable economic inequality.
Many people at least in groups like this are doing things at individual levels to address this issue. Perhaps those actions can be shared here and others can also implement those plans?”
Mr Mani , an electrical and power engineer welcomes the discussions:
“Sir, Excellent topic. Poverty alleviation has become a political slogan in all languages. Many take films / photographs of the poverty stricken people, for proganda purposes only and earn money. So the poverty pays them.
Rest in next.
8/18/2021 Post 4.3
Mr Bala Ajjampur also talks about education and NGOs.
“Poverty is intertwined with education, no matter how one tries to disassociate the two. However, the education has to be in liberal arts and social science to address the poverty and there are not many jobs out there to support the initiatives. NGOs are not a cup of tea for those who aspire to have growth careers to settle down comfortably. The other problem is that many NGOs are funded through government grants and hence politically susceptible to put out outreach programs that can really help to remove the poverty. Donations that come through charitable organizations may have adverse impact as they can easily become dumping grounds for unwanted goods. Instead of removing poverty they add to the problems as I noted earlier on the documentary on Ghana. As long as the thread remains focused on education as a tool to remove poverty, I think the thread will become invaluable to those who do have capstone formulate educational policies without the government interference.”
Mr Srinivasan ,PNB has some comments with a suggestion to me in the end:
“Good morning sir, Today a few more ingredients are added to the recipe, like Geo political and poverty.
On poverty I am reminded of a saying it is difficult to define poverty even though it is easy to identify a poor man.
You can go to Tendulkar committee to add nutrition dimension or rest content with 32rupees.
I hold the view that poverty is better understood and exploited by 2sets of people.
Politicians thrive in the betrayal. Filmwallas in the portrayal.
But contentment is one, which is a basic integral aspect of poverty. Even small things happening make them happy.
I was reading a book review on the book In order to live, by a north korea girl. She says, even electric power coming once in a while for a short duration, make them feel happy.
Another dimension is sharing. A hungry girl is given a biscuit packet in the City of Joy. She shares it with the dog, saying that it too remained hungry for 2days.
All these things if remembered while becoming rich would go a long way in making the world a better place to live.
We see the usage of the word nuclear family quite often in the matrimonial site. Joint family was the best insurance product, in which the only premium was mutual trust and love and affection.
There was a book with the title Wealth of the World and Poverty of the Nations.
I am sorry for the digression.
On a serious note, my humble submission is let the morning post take a single course like a bridled horse.”
Mr Jayashankar looks at another aspect laziness.
“One of the reason for poverty is that people are not prepared make efforts. Added to this is the freebies by political parties.
People should be made to understand that effort is required to achieve any thing. It is the duty of government to provide enough opportunity for people to work and earn.”
Some truth, some skepticism , some jnana.
Let us see more in next post.
8/20/2021 Post 4.4
Mr K V Ramaprasad comments on education
“Why talk about poverty linked with education? There are instances where a person who is rich and has knowledge of the education system is able to manipulate his children’s education by admitting them in best schools /colleges. At the same time a person of average income and not fully aware of the education system due to limited knowledge does not have that type of luxury to admit his children in the best schools / colleges. Both the children in their respective schools / colleges get education one with high standard and other with medium standard of education. This disparity in right to education happens in our country. But all said and done finally irrespective of the standard of education the child gets he lands in a place in his life as per his destiny.
Where is the right type of same education to all children irrespective of their financial status?”
Mr Ramaraj talks about relevance of education.
“One aspect is education. Another is vocational training – livelyhood projects – teaching how to fish”
Mr Ramesh analyses some of the realities.
“We are in an age of abundance, but the ingrained inequalities and inefficiencies end up denying bare essentials to a large set of people. Capitalistic tendencies and materialistic pursuit are the root causes of this lack of equity. Both governmental and private sector initiatives are myopic in their implementation and a focus on capital efficiency rather than universal care is hurting implementation. The covid pandemic and the vaccine response demonstrate how some companies and their investors are dealing in billions while billions of people who need the vaccine do not have access to it. The GAVI alliance as well as other causes that promote vaccine equity have been hogtied. Governments and external agency funding have been helping research, yet the product pricing is for profit making. As long as the self-serving tendencies of the entitled few are governing essential areas, we will be only paying lip service and putting up a show for dance that gains us a good name and a peaceful night’s sleep while barely making a dent.
The WHO chief famously said, that we can end the pandemic if we decide to. While human nature, suspicion about vaccines can be factors, the reality is that it is really a supply chain problem from a vaccination perspective and a discipline problem from a lockdown perspecitive.
We have seen that people can be disciplined for a reasonable period of time beyond which the economic impact does not permit them to easily adhere. The supply chain problem is a solvable one if the intent exists.”
Good discussions.
8/22/2021 Post 4.5
Let us look at some aspects.
I have listed some relevant questions to understand the problem. May be there are more questions in your minds. As suggested ,I do not include reservation, quota, general education in the discussions as they are not relevant for this problem of poverty reduction . This I hope can generate more discussions . We should avoid biases or statements based on very limited or restricted data sets.
The problem is complex. Its magnitude on numbers, organization and finances are huge. It is multidimensional and needs not a single solution but multiple solutions involving lakhs of agencies and people ,not government alone. Solutions need deep thinking, instrumentation ,feedbacks, analysis and corrections. Mindset changes and will power are needed at a maximum level. Lip service is provided by many but focus of all is on improving middle class requirements like buses, cars, roads, electricity, luxury goods,imports etc?
Will employment remove at least food shortage and make food available to all ? How do we focus a very large segment of employment on poverty alleviation and reduce government employees drastically?
Will education help in alleviating poverty ? If so what kind of education?
What is the financial magnitude and organizational structure to handle and solve this problem regularly? Should organization be with government that does not work or NGOs? Will this be a public service bigger than any other service?
GDP and growth focus will reduce poverty or increase it? Is the focus on consumption and increasing it ,on automobiles and roads correct?
Will commercialisation of agriculture help?
How do we make villages self reliant , plan the whole area equitably, more socially concerned , and separate panjayats for food distribution like mid-day meals scheme for schools?
Will formalisation help? Or activists want freedom of speech over food?
Will socialism help?
Are economists interested in poverty reduction or only on growth of GDP?
Are politicians interested in vote banks or alleviation of poverty?
What is the role of government?
Should the government procure grains and store and waste? Why not distribute it ?
Is there a role for industries?
What should be the development priorities?
Has technology helped?
How do you reduce greed and encourage frugal living? Reduce wastage?
How should charities focus on poverty? Are they doing enough? Are their efforts diffused to have no effect?
Are NGOs effective? How NGOs and self help groups increase their effectiveness? Can they play a major role in poverty alleviation?
What should be the focus of government subsidies? On agriculture, health, fans and laptops, industries or ration – including LPG- ?
How does one make the poor self reliant? Is regular feeding the permanent solution? What are required to create an atmosphere for nutritious living?
What should be the focus and policy priorities?
Please go through these and give your comments.
8/24/2021 Post 4.6
Who is responsible to remove poverty and starvation?
Many writers discuss poverty , starvation and malnutrition at length with lots of data and anecdotes. They don’t have a solution. Most believe the government should do more – give more subsidies.
The government alone cannot solve the problem given its complex proportions with its mostly non committed and non working people. Corruption comes in. The three good and big schemes – ration shops and cards with subsidised food grains is the first one. It didn’t reach poorest people. Two a pension scheme for old , widows and poor again doesn’t reach the poorest. The third is the Mahatma Gandhi National rural employment guarantee scheme. It reaches a lot of people but its effectiveness to eradicate poverty is not clear. But these are good and welcome schemes. They have helped many . But these are not focused and concerted efforts. It is treated as add on or vote catching efforts. But these could be made effective if NGOs are involved like in midday meals scheme for school children. That did not happen . The focus of government is the problem. It started with Nehru’s focus on heavy industries on Soviet model from second five year plan. If we feel industries will give employment , it is utopian. Definitely some jobs were generated but a very small percentage of our population got benefited. The informal sector is huge in india. Then Narasimha Rao and manmohan singh moved full gear to capitalism. Growth and GDP have become the focus of governments for decades. That ignores poverty. Commercialisation , cost reduction with automation killed the opportunities for poor. This will be disasterous with the introduction of robots, ML and AI. If you use this approach for employment generation it is wrong. We need a totally different approach to reach to solve the poverty problem.
We need multiple involvements. Involvement by government, people, NGOs and industries is needed.
More in next.
8/26/2021 Post 4.7
Many good and perceptive comments have come. Let us look at them in a sequence.
Mr AL Bharat comments on development and roles.
” any problem that affects the nation’s growth and development is definitely to be addressed by the government.
But here the onus is not completely with the government since there are limitations to what the government alone can do.
My humble suggestion would be that the corporates should take responsibility as part of their CSR activity to join hands with the government to come up with schemes to alleviate the poverty in the country.
Well,having said this there is no denial that the corporates are not doing their bit,but if there is a robust system and plan along with the government then there is better employment of those plans to see some tangible results which is measurable.
Quite likely that each corporate body focusses on one particular area as their social objective e.g.Girl child education,creating women employment,helping the physically disabled so on & so forth.
Here,there are chances that there could be repetition of services to the same area/field by multiple corporates and thereby neglecting some other important areas.
Hence if there is a body/institution set up particularly to understand each corporate body’s CSR activity then there is a possibility of equal distribution and attention given to all the necessary fields to lessen the poverty over a reasonable period of time.
A recent example of how a state like Orissa took over the complete responsibility of engaging and providing towards the Indian Hockey team bore hansome results in the Tokyo Olympics.
Similarly each company can be given a geographical area to develop along with the local panchayat or so.”
My response
I agree with you. But we need to accept the fact that government has an important and motivating role. They should give directions. That is the major problem . Their focus should move away from industries and they should look at poverty and health. That will make economists to think in terms of poverty and reorient their perspective to understand and find solutions. Grass roots economists are needed. These can be provided by local NGOs and not global centralised NGOs. So we need a policy and totally opposite development plan.
It took a lot of time to make industries to go far social responsibility. I am not sure whether they will do any sustained effort to attack this problem.
There is joke about FAO. They focussed on buildings , people and travel and not on poverty alleviation.
Your example of Orissa is very appropriate. We need constant and organised and highly focused effort. I am glad when most publications on poverty reduction do not talk about many solutions, your comment on Orissa experiment should stay in the minds of people.
But a major caveat. It tells the need for focus and commitment. Poverty is a serious and complex problem needing sustained attention – not a one time event. We are good at solving one time event sports or festivals or social, cultural and political functions.
The problem here is one of reach to the poor . We have several mismatches – communications, information, education and fear, technology , food materials and money. We need to reduce these divides. The urban people are responsible for high rural poverty. Most agriculture is now focused for our needs not their – rural poor . Commercial crops destroyed millets and other crops. Vegetables and milk are produced for us urbanites. Is there a golden mean between market and local needs? So our responsibility is high. We need changes in all these.
Thanks.
Mr Srinivasan,PNB has some comments:
“Certain things mentioned are good in conceptual level. Rajiv Gandhi once said 85%of the benefits doesn’t reach the intended people. Whether DBT is an answer.
There are occasions when voting machine turns into a weighing machine.
But normally there are other considerations impacting this process.
Then the freebies announced. Will it qualify as a welfare economics.
Sorry for the random and disoriented expression.”
My response
Sorry for your disbelief in voting machines. They have stopped booth capturing. No one can show it can be programmed with a malware. They are not connected to internet , only stand alone devices.
I feel DBT has reduced corruption and hastle. People having an account is a good sign. Kindly note that misuse is possible. But advantages are a lot – of several orders – more than misuses. We need a holistic and pragmatic outlook.
8/28/2021 Post 4.8
Mr Ramesh comments on government policies .
Cost optimization as well as nearsightedness in civic infrastructure development mean that employment opportunities are reduced. The tendering model where least cost is the only consideration lowers demand for work. The result is poor quality or longevity on one hand and insufficient employment generation on the other. Government spend on infrastructure thus does not have the intended consequences. It does boost the economy, but does not reach all strata. I have seen china build whole cities and townships to keep people employed. The belt road project is an example where the employment generation is more than a side benefit but a major expectation.
While the chinese have increased their reserves over decades, India may not have the spending power for such transformation without innovative ways of filling the coffers. Our export revenue is miniscule compared to the gap in the per capita that will lift people above the poverty line. Being self contained and not worrying about the dollar to rupee rate might help, but the dependence on oil would peg us back. The first order would be to create energy independence. This can unleash India.
My response
Very extensive comments . Your suggestions need consideration. I once said we should make one dollar as equal to one rupee. The predominant concerns on oil, forex, exports and imports , FDI should be reduced. Make villages self oprating. In the early days , you got most things you wanted in the village itself. Your travel to a city is limited. Since there was no commercial activity, the grains were available in the village to a large extent. Today procurement by government takes away grains ,. It is transported and ,stored in warehouses and allowed to rot mostly. So local availability is gone. Secondly millets were produced in large quantities and were available at a low cost. Cash crops like sugar cane destroyed millet cultivation. Third, many fruit trees were available in village commons. It gave food to people.that is gone now. Where are the large segments of common areas? Why not plant fruit trees like guava, jack fruit etc and roots like sweet potato and tapioca. Encourage palm jaggery . Plant vegetables and roots near their settlements.
Lastly use of machinery reduced jobs to poor.most skilled people migrated. There are no masons, carpenters and Smiths now. Pottery is replaced by plastics. So cumulatively these increased poverty not decrease it. A few benefitted. But commodities shifted for urban use. So we need a balanced development. Our rural development plans all these years have not helped in alleviating poverty . Instead they increased poverty. While agriculture development is important, can we reserve say thirty percent produce for local use? Fifty will be desirable. Should not the government release it’s huge stocks stored in warehouses for use by the poorest starving people?
What we need is not conventional economics or development theories. We need a total reimagination. Can we solve this problem through employment for all? With AI taking away millions of jobs, it seems more utopian now. Look for a new solution.
More in next
8/30/2021 Post 4.9
Mahendra Babu has commented on this problem:
“True, It is easily said than done. Bur effofts by Govt,NGO,private individuals are needed.
For that thinking must change.
At any level of income, a portion must be given for charity. That thinking is not easy. These are told from Avvaiyar “Aram seya virumbu” ,Adisankara in Bhaja Govindam ,Valluvar and so on.
But even rich people do not like to part with money. Charity could be thinking, words or actions.
First this must be inculcated. Others will follow. WE can see this in some communities. I do not want to mention.
In many countries Governments with good governance and a bit of controlled democracy( responsible freedom) has been done. Striking examples are so called 4 dragons -Singapore ,Hongkong, South Korea and Taiwan.
Small or big the size of the country , it could be made prosperous.
Our country is too big, democratic, a lot of freebees for vote bank, corruption at many levels , fragmentation, less patriotism(think of one nation) and many other factors are impediments for the progress of the country. WE have to appreciate that in spite of these drawbacks we are progressing.”
Bhaja Govindam : Sloka 27 ‘wealth is to be distrusted to the needy”
He continues further
“Yes I agree. We have to find new solutions.
Here we means who?
Let us try our individual contributions in whatever way we can.
Even rich people and professionals do not want to pay tax.
Last time I had gone to a dentist for crowing. It price was Rs 13000. The assistant said “Can you bring in cash”
I told her that I would not handle so much cash. I could use my debit or credit cards.
Now a days I do not visit that dentist.”
Agreed.
Vinod Vyasulu has a suggestion
So long as growth in GDP is the only metric for an economy, this will happen. Why not make full employment the major metric of all economic/ government policy? Then jobs/wages will be seen as a benefit not as a cost. This may reduce international competitiveness in the short run, but that can be overcome with full employment and more local consumption and production. This is broadbrush, details can be worked out in discussing”
Ramesh comments on employment :
“Industry 3.0 has had this impact. 4.0 will “finish” the job, unfortunately.”
My response
Transition from GDP to employment is a great step in the direction of reducing inequality. While full employment seems a distant dream, it needs to be a goal and policy directions be made towards that. For example technology absorption needs to be carefully tailored to meet this. We need to reduce exploitation. Employment gives people a purpose in life, makes them active. But we need to go beyond that. Make food available to all is another objective to be pursued.et me end this with a quote by Subramania Bharathi, a revolutionary Tamil patriot and poet:
“If even one person does not get food, we will destroy the world. “
This in 1930s.
9/1/2021 Post 4.10
Mr Jayashankar talks about handful rice scheme
“For charity, one excellent system was brought by Kanchi Periavar.
Each family should donate a handful of rice every day for charity.The rice will be collected by the family and kept separately in their house. Later the Mutt rep will collect them and feed the poor. In this system even middle class and poor families can participate.The beauty of this system is that the donator will not feel the burden of it. It also gives the satisfaction for every one that they have participated in a noble task.I know this was practised every where in TN with interest but found its natural death after the death of Mahaswamy.Why not government start this campaign ? But the danger is entering of corruption. It can be assigned to a non profit charity minded entity.”
My response
There are many similar schemes by thousands of people or groups. It gives solace to some place for some people and for sometime. These are helpful but not enough. We need a multi organizational network to attack this problem.
Before we look at solutions, we need to see the problems.
First problem is rural disconnect. This disconnect has three components one, information disconnect: poor are not aware of schemes of government or NGOs or even local groups. It also includes financial accounts , Aadhaar and ration cards . DBT is not reaching many.
Second is communication disconnect. They don’t understand your language.
Third is supply disconnect. Grains are not available in villages throughout the year . They are not delivered to the poor. With the caste division made permanent by recent supreme court judgment, the problem of marginalised people will become worse. Delivery will be difficult. Powerful people from BCs will dominate. Money flow is the second problem. Is it seasonal or perennial? Employment is another aspect of this problem
Third is philosophical – do you make them dependent for ever on government or do you make them stand on their feet? This is important. We need to use their energy.
Fourth problem is that of organizations – governmental, village panchayat and CSR groups . This needs reimagining. Midday meals works. Why don’t you enroll the poor into school without age limits but in separate groups.
Fifth is education. Present education failed completely to address poverty redressal. Teach and train on skills, health, agriculture, government schemes, DBT, banking, nutrition , etc.
Fifth is change in government policies on growth, employment, procurement , markets, pricing and subsidies . Sixth and most important is change in mindsets to create an altruistic thinking and actions by people, industry, government and most importantly the arm chair intellectuals and communists .
Maybe there are more problems. The key starting point addressed by many including Abhijit Banerjee, Nobel prize winner, is to understand the many issues of starvation and root causes for this.
9/3/2021 Post 4.11
Mr Srinivasan has a comment on CSR.
“Good morning sir. CSR. We could boast we are the only country to have implemented this. In my opinion not all companies could gear themselves up for this. Charity cannot be legislated. Threshold level is also low. Companies are required to make profit and pay tax.
The government is required to do this.
Legislation is also becoming stringent.”
Mr Mukul Jain raises the concern on many on subsidies:
“Unfortunately most of the ration card holders have become lethargic and have no interest in work. Unless the dependency on govt. aid is removed, no body is ready to work. See the example of our house maids.Irrespective of any amount of money, motivation or scolding, they are not ready to work. Mainly work culture is missing from our society. If you ask a begger to clean your compound in exchange for the money you wish to offer, he will not do it . Therefore first we have to tackle this culture before embarking on any schemes to eradicate poverty. Regards”
Both arguments are well said and correct. But then, what is the suite of solutions?
Kindly note CSR and subsidies are part of the solution. The CSR if the heart is not there , then it will fail. But it gives a signal and many times signals help.
But subsidies is another story. With AI going to create massive unemployment, what are the answers? Revolution and power hungry taking over India like some south American countries leading to chaos.. is this what we want.
Let us look at nature. You see a bunch of grapes. They got equal nutrients and most are of same size/ volume. See a huge bunch of bananas . They are mostly equal. See tomatoes in a plant. They are in a branch and sizes are nearly equal. See a tree full of mangoes. Most are of same size. External factors make some small. But by and large, the inequality is small. But see people- a good number of billionaires and a vast majority of starving poor- a very high degree of inequality and increasing more and more
So if the government has to step in, universal basic income is the answer. With DBT it can be implemented. But address also the reach problems. Use community radio and give ideas to grow roots, millets, and trees. Moringa tree – drumstick tree – is a saviour in Africa. We need to restrict land use for commercial purpose. We don’t want to do it we, don’t have a will power to do it. We want the rich persons votes. Can we use UBI as a starter? Remember the western countries have an unemployment dole? We need to build on that concept.
9/5/2021 Post 4.12
Mr Ramanathan, MD, Ponni sugars supports both CSR and subsidy
“CSR is business Dharma but can’t be enforced by Dhanda. Tatas and TVS did it with self conviction. Corporates know how to circumvent CSR. Spend or explain prescription was ok but not fines and penalties to promote CSR. Thankfully noncompliance is now decriminalized.
Subsidies and reservation are excellent and necessary tools to protect the bottom of the pyramid. Fault lies in implementation for political gains.”
Mr Bala Ajjampur comments on education
“If we believe that science and technology will help to educate and correct the efforts towards sustenance, then we need to consider the effect that a nuclear power had on humanity. It can be both constructive or destructive, depending our own perception of its use. This is where the education need to focus and must focus.”
Ms. Bharathi Prabhu supports subsidy:
“Apropos the comments reg dependency on govt aid…which fosters lazy work culture, I think it’s wrong to generalize based on one’s personal experience. Lots of ration card holders work very hard, many of them don’t avail its benefits because of the poor quality or because their cards are valid in their native places..many people approach us for work, cleaning of empty sites, car washing etc,
Bad work culture is an issue with those whose stomachs are already full.. like those in some form of employment..
Work culture is not the problem for the acute poverty we witness.. this is my understanding”
My response
I welcome the feeling both CSR and subsidy are needed to take care of the poorest. But we need to respect the view that subsidy leads to loss of motivation. Please understand human behaviours and beliefs are thousand fold and dynamics. They are not fixed or firm or mathematically modelable. So in social sciences, opposite concepts coexist . We can’t prove any by logic. Examples are caste and reservation . Some believe in dictatorship. Some want anarchy. Some want freedom to do anything including abuse and hurt ,some want control. There are no binary solutions. Multiple approaches and solutions are needed. Experience shows the way. The best example is midday meals for school children. It was criticized and teachers protested. Economists thought it a disaster. Today it is acknowledged as success. Maturity and 360 degree viewing are important to analyse problems. That is called wise and compassionate thinking. We all talk from our perceptions and experiences . But subsidies reach people who are above poverty level like in tamilnadu. It is shown that we can’t withdraw subsidies for fear of loss of votes. Subsidy should be restricted to food and not fans and mixers. It needs to be made conditional to these people cultivating roots, meringa trees and vegetables in small patches and village commons. Subsidy without work is not a good thing. MGNREGA is a good and successful program and example. DBT and Aadhaar can help to weed out corruption and reduce difficulties and bogus or fake entities.