Modern world is facing its worst crisis in coronavirus pandemic and what are Indian celebrities doing? Well, many clapped and banged pots and pans on 22 March at 5 pm following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call, and filmed themselves while doing so. Others are showing us how to do dishes and clean the home, participating in mock celebrity bartan-jhadu-poncha (BJP) challenges. The rest of the world is trying to help find a cure for the deadly virus or providing monetary assistance to the poor or arranging equipment for medical workers, underlining yet again the generosity gap between other countries’ and India’s elite.
Tennis star Roger Federer donates $1.02 million to support the most vulnerable families in Switzerland during the coronavirus crisis; India’s former cricket captain Sourav Ganguly gives away Rs 50 lakh worth of rice in collaboration with the West Bengal-based company Lal Baba Rice, in what is clearly a sponsored, mutual brand-building exercise. Chinese billionaire Jack Ma donates one million face masks and 500,000 coronavirus testing kits to the United States, and pledged similar support for European and African countries; Amitabh Bachchan uses social media to spread half-baked information — such as ‘flies spread coronavirus’ — and wonders if the clanging of pots, pans and thalis defeats the potency of the virus because it was Amavasya on 22 March (he later deleted the tweet).
Hollywood’s golden couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds announce they will donate $1 million to Feeding America and Food Banks Canada that work for low-income families and the elderly; while Indian cricket and Bollywood’s beautiful match Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma get into familiar lecture mode, asking everyone to “stay home and stay safe”. This follows Anushka Sharma’s earlier run-in with a ‘luxury car’ passenger where she ticked him off for violating PM Modi’s diktat of Swachh Bharat.
Also read: Social distancing is a luxury Indians earning just Rs 150 a day cannot afford
Where the rich are charitably poor
What makes rich and famous Indians so quick to lecture, especially on issues in congruence with government initiatives, but so loathe to help the poor desperately in need? The 2010 Giving Pledge by Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, to which five wealthy Indians are signatories, was meant to give a gigantic push to philanthropy worldwide. This was followed by India’s then minister of corporate affairs Sachin Pilot making it legally mandatory for companies to put aside charity funds for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects, making India the first country in the world to pass such a legislation. This year, an attempt to criminalise non-compliance was eventually softened after an uproar from corporates.
Philanthropy is up. According to Bain and Company’s annual Philanthropy Report 2020, domestic philanthropic funding has rapidly grown from approximately Rs 12,500 crore in 2010 to approximately Rs 55,000 crore in 2018. Contributions by individual philanthropists have also recorded strong growth in the past decade. In 2010, individual contributions accounted for 26 per cent of private funding, and as of 2018, individuals contribute about 60 per cent of the total private funding in India, estimated at approximately Rs 43,000 crore.
But in a prophetic warning, the report underscored the need for philanthropy ”to now consciously focus on India’s most vulnerable” and called for targeted action for the large population caught in a vicious cycle of vulnerability — precisely those worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The disadvantaged,” it said, “are unable to adapt to unpredictable situations that can push them deeper into vulnerability, such as climate change, economic risks and socio-political threats.” Even Azim Premji, who recently made news by committing 34 per cent of his company’s shares — worth $7.5 billion or Rs 52,750 crore — to his continuing cause, the public schooling system in India, has not set aside anything specific for those affected by the coronavirus. India’s second-richest man was the first Indian to sign The Giving Pledge.
Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Chief Sustainability Officer at Renew Power, started charity a few years ago to promote giving. Her experience has been less than happy. Indians, she finds, have refrained from planned giving for broader societal transformation. “Giving is individualistic and not driven via networks, which can be quite effective as we have seen in other parts of the world like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And in India, giving is usually done to get something back – to god for prosperity, to religious affiliations for advocacy of these platforms, and to government for business returns. Wealthy Indians need to learn to give in a planned way for greater social impact and transformation,” she says.
Little surprise then that India was ranked 124 in World Giving Index 2018 — and placed 82 in the 10th edition of the index compiled by Charities Aid Foundation looking at the data for 128 countries over the 10-year period.
Also read: India doesn’t want taali-thali charity from billionaires, it wants Socialist state to act
All of us are in the same boat
But it’s not about celebrities or wealthy Indians alone. We are all in it together. Special planes are sent to bring back Indians stuck abroad due to the pandemic, but labourers and daily wage workers are left to walk hundreds of kilometres to reach their villages. Doctors treating coronavirus patients will be applauded but not allowed to enter their homes.
JNU sociologist Maitrayee Chaudhuri calls it a potent mix of selfishness, self care and entitlement. ”We have a complete disregard for people on the margins and on whose labour we sit. It is all about us and our safety,” she says. This communal selfishness is very different from the churning in the 19th and early 20th century, which led to enormous social reform movements. The slow and meticulous destruction of ‘secularism’, ‘socialism’ and ‘liberalism’ has helped. As has the rise of neoliberal ‘individual self centredness’. “Not to talk about smartphone dumbness,” she adds. There is an absence of empathy everywhere, filled instead with the noise of thalis being banged and bells being rung to show symbolic gratitude to those who serve us.
The examples of those who are giving are few and far in between. There is comedian Kapil Sharma, who is giving Rs 50 lakh to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and southern superstars Pawan Kalyan, Ram Charan and Rajinikanth. But in general, our stars have chosen to share very little. Former cricket captain M.S. Dhoni, for instance, has been reported to have donated Rs 1 lakh to a charity trust in Pune, which led to some criticism and a counter from his wife Sakshi, even though it wasn’t immediately clear which incident she was alluding to.
India Inc hasn’t fared much better either. When PM Modi asked everyone to show their support for health workers fighting coronavirus by applauding them, one of the country’s most proactive industrialists was among the first to tweet his support, and also one of the first to be trolled for it. He quickly responded by offering to manufacture ventilators, among other things. Reliance is reportedly donating a hospital for coronavirus patients, weeks after Isha Ambani had hosted a Holi party on 7 March — when the number of coronavirus cases had rapidly begun to rise. Her mother, after all, is the queen of giving, contributing to an array of eclectic causes, and has been honoured for it by getting elected to the board of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2019 or by becoming the first Indian woman in 2016 to be elected to the International Olympic Committee for supporting the sporting dreams of seven million Indian children.
But for India’s corporate class, it took a nudge from the Principal Scientific Adviser K. VijayRaghavan to remind them that healthcare and preventive healthcare are covered under Schedule VII of the Companies Act: “Hence supporting any project or programme for preventing or controlling or managing COVID19 is legitimate CSR (CSR) expenditure.” He also quickly got an office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs a day later.
Also read: Real social distancing: Special planes for India’s rich, police lathis for working-class poor
Elites’ capitalist worldview
Is there a kindness deficit in India’s business elite as well, which mirrors the lack of empathy of the country’s middle class? Business writer and bestselling author Tamal Bandyopadhyay says there are exceptions but culturally, the Indian business community is not exactly fond of opening up its purse on its own unless there is a compulsion. “Even when the companies are compelled, they find ways to evade it. We all know how many of them handle their CSR activities through creation of trusts. When it comes to buying electoral bonds, the story is different.
“Similarly, some of them get excited and rush to do certain things to express solidarity with the government in power. For instance, when the push is on digitalisation, there are takers for adopting towns for digitalisation in constituencies which matter. Essentially, most of them don’t believe in doing things no strings attached. Of course, there are people who believe in doing things quietly but they are exceptions,” he says.
In Western nations such as the US, philanthropy has deeper roots, with the practice essentially starting through donations to religious organisations. By the late 19th century, there was a rise of secular philanthropists such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, which Stanford professor Rob Reich has noted as being controversial and one way of cleansing one’s hands of the dirty money.
In his book Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better (2018), he has noted: “Big Philanthropy is definitionally a plutocratic voice in our democracy, an exercise of power by the wealthy that is unaccountable, non-transparent, donor-directed, perpetual, and tax-subsidised.”
A similar critique has come from Anand Giridharadas, whose Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World makes the argument that the global financial elite has reinterpreted Andrew Carnegie’s view that it’s good for society for capitalists to give something back to create a new formula: It’s good for business to do so when the time is right, but not otherwise. According to Reich, philanthropy works when it is able to find a gap between what governments do and what the market wants.
Few people exemplify this better than Bill Gates, who has for long donated to the cause of global healthcare. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already contributed $100 million to contain the virus, which he declared a pandemic even before the World Health Organisation did. The Foundation’s newsletter The Optimist is also performing a key role in spreading critical information about the Covid-19 pandemic and dispelling myths.
Also read: India’s rich are passing coronavirus to the poor, but not offering monetary help
Indian philanthropy isn’t secular
In India, the twain of religious giving and secular funding has not met. Management expert Nirmalya Kumar calls it a sensitive subject and says it is related to the philosophical concept underlying Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism that believe in reincarnation. “Our soul starts life again in a different physical form based on the karma of previous lives. As such, as has been sometimes articulated to me, the lack of charity is an unwillingness to interfere with the consequences that God has determined appropriate. Who am I to come in between the person and their God?”
But the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is traditionally known for engaging in social seva (not just swayam seva , or self service), evidenced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s decision to feed five crore people during the 21-day lockdown. Sikhism has a well-developed tradition of Guru ka langar, and it was on full display at Shaheen Bagh when ordinary Sikhs served food to people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Some business families also do philanthropic work, among them the Nilekanis, the Murtys and the older Bharatrams (their founder Lala Shri Ram founded Delhi Cloth Mills and set up several educational institutes like Shri Ram College of Commerce and Lady Shri Ram College). Radhika Bharatram, joint vice chairperson, The Shri Ram Schools, recalls growing up in a middle class, progressive home where her sister and she were encouraged to volunteer at the Cheshire Home and Mother Teresa Home. Marriage, she says, brought her into a home where making contributions to society was in the family’s DNA and she is now involved as a volunteer with organisations such as Delhi Crafts Council, Blind Relief Association, SRF Foundation, the CII Foundation Woman Exemplar Programme, and Cancer Awareness Prevention and Early Detection. What drives her is empathy: When “you come from a position of privilege, there is joy in making a difference to someone else’s life”. She says it motivates her when the purpose is greater than the individual.
Unfortunately, the middle class and the elites have tended to keep self interest above public interest. In the new world after the coronavirus pandemic, this is one attitude it must change.
The author is a senior journalist. Views are personal.
Though article is full of data and is informative on many counts, but it is too confusing about what it want to convey ???
If head-line is the crux, article is miserable ! !
Article would have been a bit credible, had the writer questioned the contribution from Politicians like Sonia, Vadhra, Pawar, Laalu, Mayavati, Mulayam, Late Jaya, Abdulla, Mahbooba etc. who sucked money from Governments and Public alike and most of their wealth running into tens of thousands of Crore Rupees are certified by courts as “earned within known means”
Or is it trying to merely challenge Secularism and Socialism of current Govt?
One has to evaluate that is it merely 2 crore salaried Middle Class Income Tax payers who are expected to do every thing for the nation, and rest every one despite good income are exempt because they are “Farmer Vote Banks Politics” for stalwarts like sharad pawar and erstwhile Raja-Rani ?
Evaluate the situation after reading following paragraphs. Most readers may not know the original Indian History (before it was destroyed by british) though it is available in the form of many 18th century Reports in British archives. While British destroyed the Indian cultural system, British replicated Indian System of “education for all social strata” in England because at that time only British elite’s children were given education. It helped them during Industrial revolution
…. wherein each Temples , even in the remotest village, had vast resources at its command with third of Village land as Temple Land, which provided employment to needy and where no tax was charged by kings on temple income. These Temple resources were REAL SOCIALIST AND SECULAR, so much that there was no beggar in India, every one got basic education (including mathematics needed for daily business by each villager + Indian Ethos & Culture), health care etc. and BEYOND CAST SYSTEM the village pathshala use to have 40%-70% students from lower casts.
Larger temples had larger hospitals & Pathshala beyond elementary system reaching to Visharad Level & beyond.
Larger Universities, cultural-hubs & linked public welfare system was destroyed by waves of Muslims Rulers in few centuries, but they could not destroy “network of regular wealth creation” in villages. British destroyed it and Post-independent Congress found it against own interest to revive it.
The 2500 year old Socialist-Capitalist system of kingdom of Agreya (origin of Agrawal Community) was commendable . wherein any new person from elsewhere wanted to settle, each citizen used to contribute one brick and rupee to that the person had a house and could start earning from Day-One
BRITISH destroyed it by acquiring the Temple lands and started Taxing Temples so that each person became dependent on them, British imposed their education system to produce clerks and destroyed the health case system, absence of learning Indian ethos & culture led to downing of social morals and increasing corruption + it made the conversions easy for rudderless society
Further, post independence, Congress continued to tax Temples (exempted Churches & Mosques) a practice of JAJIA-Tax started at the time of Muslim rulers and one way or other preserved by British
Thus, the Hindu community’ money could never be used for socialistic community development including education, healthcare and providing skills / employment. If, any reforms were needed to keep donations safe and not splurged by a few priests, it could have been done by creation of temple trusts, with a rider that Trust-Chief & Secretary & members or their family members (3 generations & levels) can be elected beyond 6 years only after a break of 6 years. Today there are thousands of Trusts by traders & communities that provide basic health case and education. I can only tell about many middle class, who have been doing their bit without any advertisement
However, these efforts are devoid of larger social participation because Political Class has made all efforts to preserve 60% of Indian population as Poor-vote bank who can be swayed by slogans like “Garibi Hatao”
Today 80% of national population don’t have any incentive to donate even for the temples. I remember my childhood, where I used to see even Poor-people donating may be just 1-paisa to temple during daily Darshan. But if I ask you that when did you last visit a temple, you may not even remember
If the writer again ponder on these facts and instead push resources, energy & network to support such basic fundamental change in the nation, NO ONE WOULD REMAIN POOR OR VULNERABLE
I am pleasantly surprised to hear about this temple oriented welfare in India. It’s a proud achievement. We should latch on it, and re-construct this great Hindu yet secular system of social welfare.
If the wealthy have donated to PM’s fund, it is anyway reaching the poor. It is easy to sit and criticize with veiled hatred. Surprised that people can’t think straight. Why are we our own enemies? Can’t we forget our pettiness, our biases for once, and support our PM who works hard for once, at least in the current situation? Instead of sitting and scribbling what went wrong, what is right….yes, it is your personal biased view….However, do we need a media like this? where we do not think of all of us as one whole? As long as the rich have donated, let us be thankful. Have you donated? If they have, let us appreciate that. Do we always needs to look at what is wrong always? For once, why can’t we look at what is right? My God, what have we come to? Not all fingers are the same. To each their own…paths can differ, but the goal is the same….then why sit in a corner and comment on other’s paths? Commenting is easy. Giving is difficult. If someone gives to the right person, for the right cause, let us appreciate and be grateful! Simple
To add to what I commented, one Modi does not have a magic wand. If we can support, let us. If not, let us at least be neutral. If the people walked on streets, then why did AAP not take care? How come there is no mention of it anywhere in the news? My sympathies are with the people. However, on second thoughts, why was there a sudden mass exodus? Lockdown was expected. Isn’t it? Hunger, yes. Why was their hunger not met? Did all of them decide at the same time to move? this is perplexing…..For sure, our country has failed to rise above petty politics even during pandemic! what a tragedy?!
Couldn’t agree with the content as the deliberations are touching only the surface and apparently might seem right. There have been several hundreds of ordinary citizens cooking staple meals and delivering food packets and groceries to the people on the Indian streets. There are several who donate and still like to remain faceless.
In fact, the terms like donation, charity etc. are very contemptuous in nature. It is duty of State/Government to provide adequate facilities to its every citizen whether during normal period or during any natural calamities like Tsunami, Earthquake, epidemic or pandemic of COVID-19 coronavirus. Usually, we pay direct or indirect taxes or both to the State so that it provides adequate facilities like health, education, food, job security and so on. But in case of emergency like spread of pandemic, the government should impose heavy cess on corporate sectors and minimal cess on middle class, salaried class and small firms in order to realise sufficient funds to handle any such crisis affecting large section of society. However, this is not sufficient until and unless, harsh and quick punishment is awarded to those who looted such public money meant for nation development and for society welfare or handling any such pandemic. For deterrence, punishment should be exemplary not minimum to 10 yrs in any case besides realisation of entire money looted by such corrupt persons. Particular section of rich and educated society think they are only contributing in nation building and poor citizens like daily wage earners and manual labourers are parasites or burden of society so let them die in hardship or in natural calamities as we are facing today. But the fact is that it is daily wage earners labour force who are the base of any society upon whose blood and sweat we built a developed nation. So their contributions in nation building are as important as those of educated and rich class of society. They are not parasites but wealth of nation. Keeping them and their families in good health is a sign of any healthy and developed society. Indians too have capacity and are civilized enough to understand this simple arithmetic. What is needed is that media should glorify this approach and debate on it but question arises does media has true freedom of speech in a society governed by crony capital? Perhaps not until privilege class understand this need. A last hope is our Prime Minister who can make a difference with this huge electoral mandate. Hope somebody is listening.
Stop filling people’s minds with hatred.
Just for going against a person dont make people go against humanity.
And how do you know all those you’ve mentioned have not donated a rupee?
Start reporting actual news and not sensationalising.
I’m krashanu, I’m requesting everyone of you to help us stand out for the poors who are unable to get enough of help to sustain their daily normal life due to the deadly virus and the current situation in india. Please donate us anything you feel like to help us stand out for them in every situation. Anything from your side is really appreciated. We are trying to personally help as many people we can but having adequate fund is a challenge for us. Please help us, Any amount really counts a big for us.
Account no. 20359820630
Ifsc : SBIN0030140
UPI : helpusstandout@ybl
What is your identity and bona fide seeking charity ?
Even if you have genuine cause, in this world of cheaters / spammers no one can believe you
More over you are wasting your energy by seeking alams through comments to an article, that itself is controversial
Filled with so much hatred she should be ashamed of calling herself a journalist. She is clearly trying to justify these khans and others as none of them have opened their purses. They were so much worried about Muslims from Pakistan and Bangladesh but forgot about people of their own country who they owe so much
India n actors and corporate will satisfy Govt but not poor like westerner
Donations ? as always these planet killing losers want a hand out so they can continue polluting and breading like rats.. it will be a blessing for the planet if it takes hold..
Your badly concealed disdain, nay hatred of the poor is simply unbelievable and utterly sickening. Perhaps you could start by mentioning how many siblings your parents’ generation had before venting your retrograde social Darwinistic dung.
Many Indian temples have donated for Relief many Hindus donated but
Not a single mosque or Church or Buddhist and people from these religion donated except few. And as a Muslim I am being honest.
THE PRINT and it’s authors are anti-Hindu and anti-bjp.
How long you people fill hate. Shame on you. Allah is looking and will punish you
Dear Media its very easy for u to comment … What is your contribution to the society….
Inform ur top management not to spend on party’s & luxury cars. Better u ppl to keep quite not to spread fake news
GREAT ARTICLE. AS THEY SAY “CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME “
“Sikhism has a well-developed tradition of Guru ka langar, and it was on full display at Shaheen Bagh when ordinary Sikhs served food to people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). ”
That was political act, not charitable act.
How much from your side@The Print?
The only selfless man i read about today is Salman Khan who vowed to transfer money to the daily wage workers of bollywood straight to their bank account, instead of donating to PMNRF and get a tax exemption.
I have got nothing with PM relief fund. It was started by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and being used extensively in cases of distress. But my problem is with the current govt. i don’t have a miNUTE confidence in the present government that it will use it for the welfare of the poor who don’t have Facilities to stock up food in their homes or even have a home.
Indians in general, are not known for their charity. Almost all of India’s MP and MLA s are millionaires, barring a few. If each of them takes care of their own constituencies, poor will get some relief.
@ThePrint @kavereeBamzai When was the last time you guys published something good about VIRAT KOHLI or defended him for a cause ??? How do you guys in media sleep at night with such shitty conscience?? How do you feed your families with such money that you earn? VIRAT donates more than 2 crores every year through his Virat kohli foundation to upcoming sporting talent in india…Read the change in life of young sportspersons like Sumit Nagal, Karman thandi, Satnam singh, Neel joshi, Aadil bedi, Ritaparna panda and many others because of Virat kohli foundation….
And Anushka Sharma became india’s YOUNGEST FEMALE PRODUCER at age of 25…..And She is an OUTSIDER in movies…..She is the very definition of GRACE, CLASS, DIGNITY KINDNESS and INTEGRITY….. She should be the perfect example in media articles of woman empowerment….. Remember what you call as “lectures” are actually quite influential messages especially in these times for their followers because TRUST in media of an average Indian is all-time low….. INDIAN MEDIA LIKE YOURS CAN SELL YOUR MOTHERS, SISTERS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE MARKET TO WRITE CHEAP NEGATIVE CLICKBAIT ARTICLES ON GREAT ACHIEVERS OF INDIA…. Because certain sections of media and writers like @kavereeBamzai have so much hate and disgust for Modi that any celebrity who supports his efforts for betterment of india is also criticised…. You guys in media have every right to criticise Modi’s wrong decisions but don’t castigate celebrities who support his good initiatives because those initiatives are for the poor of india….. And it is a celebrity’s RIGHT to whatever they wanna SPEAK OR NOT SPEAK…. You so called “journalists and media” who call themselves “liberals” are actually MOST ILLIBERAL and INTOLERANT group of people……. And btw, nobody is telling you “journalists” to watch these celebrity “lectures”….. These celebrities already know what kind of DISGUSTING MORONS you are as “journalists”…. These Celebrities have absolutely zero expectations from you guys because they know that you have zero conscience….. And remember, these celebrities don’t owe you journalists a damn in life….They have worked EXTREMELY HARD to be where they are in life…. The problem is so called “journalists” like you @kavereeBamzai have no perspective about life and are deeply PREJUDICED and SELECTIVE towards certain public figures…. (And I can understand why there is also no mention of KHANS in your article)
This article reflects failure of parents, education and existence of this particular “journalist” and media outlet @kavereeBamzai @theprint
I pray to LORD SHIVA to give back to journalists @kavereeBamzai and media like @ThePrint these in worst of ways that are UNKNOWN and UNIMAGINABLE…. Prejudice and hate always come back in ways that are known only to God..
Every one are equal before corona. No rich or poor any one who is contacted will get positive. Donation kar diye lekin uska istmal sahi tarehe se hone ke liye koi hisaab dekha chaiye. There should be two parties one from public and other from govt and they should check the flow of the donation. They should be survey on the donation money used in n correct way or not. If the Donation money is not used properly action should be taken.
Very strong message “ Special planes are sent to bring back Rich Indians stuck abroad due to the pandemic, but labourers and daily wage workers are left to walk hundreds of kilometres to reach their villages. Doctors treating coronavirus patients will be applauded but not allowed to enter their homes.”
Very good article here Indians want something in return if they help either publicity in media or tax benefit. Days are gone where we seen service minded people who not only give money but involve working with orphans blind leper’s that’s Gods love
These trusts, Charity is a hoax. Want to know more ? Just type on youtube “Adam ruins everything – why Billionaires are not so selfless”
And you’ll know whats going on behind the scenes of that “philanthropist” mask.
Bill Gates donated huge money for AIDS related through foundation but he made sure all those departments/ministries in various states use use software developed by Microsoft.
Why only temples donate for relief fund? Don’t others have the responsibility as institutions?
Usual diatribe published by The Print.
Be selective with facts, weave a negative story and paint the nation and incumbent Govt in bad light.
I always expect same of every article of print.
Let the author disclose his/her donations publicly… Bet it won’t amount to a fraction of what others have done already. Rather than writing a long post about what and how much others should have donated do you part and stop spreading hate and sick mentality. Because of petty minded people like you, everyone gets biased and spreads hate. Lets stand together and fight for fellow Indians rather than sitting at home writing shifty posts. God bless humanity in this times of need.
Fine article to read but it spoils the taste when in every paragraph it mentions talli & thali.
There were numerous corporate entities who donated to fake organisations only to get tax reduction under section 35 of Income Tax Act.
Root cause is trust and honesty history has evidences of dishonest peoples..people are worried to donate.
Our liberal education has not created honest citizens and leaders in our country.
By the way author is very harsh on practice of someone’s belief practice is not fair enough not yield any result other generating more hate among us.
Some thoughts are truely felt like.
Instead you urge people to donate for the cause.
As secularism has become an abuse, liberalism has been reduced to mean being liars, crooks and traitors. Liberals are now untrustworthy on anything they say and do. A new word LIBRANDU has been coined to describe today’s liberals.
The Indic religions be it Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism or Jainism are premised on karma, dharma and rebirth. If one does good karma, one benefits either in this birth or in the next. Charity or Daana is good karma. It behoves us to help the poor, needy and disabled. That alone is Punya or merit. Feeding the hungry is the foremost merit. The concept of Karma compels us to give in charity. I hope more Indians understand the imperative to give and thereby do good karma.
Akshay Kumar donated 25 Crore which is way more than what those Hollywood Actors did, anyway, I agree with you, the Govt should take over the Temple, the Mosque, the Church Money and use it to fight calamities
The money he paid is also the money of public who pay to watch his movies, his endorsed products. etc. (P.S its your money)
now after that “donation” he will get a 100% tax exemption. So i would say it is not “selfless”.
Almost everyone, inuding critics have agreed that hindu philiosophy of karma is one of the reasons. Also people mostly give for something in return. Givt shoul force mahindra, bajaj, tvs, maruti, hyundai india, force motors, ford, tata motors to develop 5L ventilators within 2-4 weeks. Biotech companies must be given formula to develop antivirals. Also equipment must be manufactured by railways for doctors an nurses… fmcg companies and liquor companies must be forced to produce starilizers, hand sanitizors…
The fundamental commandment : love thye neighbor as yourself is the reason for western mindset. Fundamental philosophy of karna is reason for hindu mindset
Yes, we have a good record of Christian ethics from Christian England and their starvation of millions of Hindus. Karma has nothing to do with charity. Giving and getting alms is part of Hindu society from beginning. Christian love is an excuse for genocide, please keep away from us. Plus, RSS is what Gandhi wanted, the media just won’t admit it.
Such a silly statement. Karma is actually the only logical concept unlike silly concepts that god makes some poor or some rich. Also karma forces people to donate and that’s how india has rich temples which then do lots of social work irrespective of religion like tirupati. Can you name even one church or mosque which does even a fraction of what tirupati does ? Totally silly arguments. By the way csr is a concept only in india while the west cares 2 hoots to donate from profits.
This article is bigoted and wrong at so many levels. There are many companies who are actively helping in this difficult time. There are also thousands of individuals, NGOs, govt employees, and regular people who are doing their best to help fulfill basic needs during these trying times. The author who probably lives in an ivory tower and surrounded by the “khan market” types, is totally out of touch (how does it feel when you are stereotyped :). More seriously, the author has no appreciation of India’s history. People all over the world, who have lived through hard times, go into a mode of self preservation even decades later. It was not too far back when there were famines in India and millions would die. Many of those who you deride as “middle class” or “rich” also come from an impoverished background going back only 1 or 2 generations. This kind of self flagellation comes from a colonial background where the “slaves” even 2 generations removed continue to identify with the rulers and see themselves apart (and even congratulate themselves for their open minds) from the very people they criticize. To understand the sociological phenomenon please read about “self hating jews”.
Stop your crap the semi illeterate boolywood stars and these illeterate cricketers are the greediset idiots in India., It is indian media who gives them publicity so they can make millions shame on the indian media.
Many celebrities do donate. Big B himself is donating thousands of food packets during this corona outbteak. Check his blogs. He has also paid off the loans of thousands of farmers and donated clothes to victims of Kerala floods.
The Indic religions be it Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism or Jainism are premised on karma, dharma and rebirth. If one does good karma, one benefits either in this birth or in the next. Charity or Daana is good karma. It behoves us to help the poor, needy and disabled. That alone is Punya or merit. Feeding the hungry is the foremost merit. The concept of Karma compels us to give in charity. I hope more Indians understand the imperative to give and thereby do good karma.
Very true. Many of us, Indians donate frequently for various purposes. But the problem is we don’t disclose and tell this to Khan Market gang.
Print obviously wants to portray “India is bad, Indians(especially) Hindus are bad” .
Well said, print is communist, they are indirectly criticizing rich Hindu businessman who give donation to temples and in religions festivals.
It’s easy to hate India’s wealth creators but it’s extremely hard to become one of them. India’s wealthy know in which hands to donate money to help the poor. This author is one of them who imagine faults in others and don’t practice what they preach others to do. This author thinks that giving food to the anti-CAA protestors is helping the poor. I’ll say it was like feeding milk to the snakes that have ultimately bitten the feeder by burning their shops during Delhi riots. It’s difficult to trust most NGOs librandus whose only job is money laundering. This author should stop showing her extremely poor IQ.
I have never seen reporters buying food and distributing it to needy people while they wait for sensational news from politicians and film stars. Does one needs to be sensible and sensitive before giving opinion on others
I saw a photograph of Ms Suhasini Haidar, Ms Smita Sharma, Ms Maya Mirchandani – generally read their tweets together – distributing relief material in north east Delhi recently. Most journalists are people of modest means.
If you believe in fate, 99.999999% Indians do, then your life is scripted and you are what you are meant to be. No amount of prayer, hard work and “luck” will help you. Modesty aside, rich do believe they had few breaks in life but by and large they are what they are supposed to be. Very few credit solely to luck. Charity to poor does not conflict with this sole belief and belief in inheritance far exceeds belief in charity.
Before pointing fingers at others, can this writer tell us how much money within her own means she has given to the poor?
Thin skinned bigot, RJ didn’t like the mirror being shown to his ugly face.
why not RJ’s question answered before you think about your face
Where do you think the election Bond for BJP came from?
Simple . The only things that the government has done for the Middle class & Rich is to humiliate them. The Government today has virtually destroyed every single business by inane laws and strong arm tactics . The Middle class and Rich are responding in the only ways the government does i.e “Theatrics”
Who has brought this disaster on the migrant population ? It is the Govt’s incompetence . It is not a natural disaster . It is 100 % government made disaster . Most of the people have always contributed when earthquakes / Floods / Famine etc have occurred.
Why do we need to give subsides to 80 crore people after 72 years of independence. The middle class and rich are not fools to be sucked dry. By the way what has been your contribution ?
Highly appreciable views. Author’s views are worth billions.
Those filled with hatred and selfishness would react. Giving is not their way, they simply know taking, looting and cheating.
The Print has the best bunch of visionary journalists.
It is the existing system that enables accumulation of 80-90 percent wealth among 20 percent rich and middle class. Hence these 20 percent can show some gratitude to the system by charity.
@ n joshi
India’s rich are hypocrites. A touching read by but hardly going to move the pseudo Good Samaritans and callous hearted Indians.
What more could be the testing times for them.
This article is so not true. Nothing more needs to be said.
Dear Kaveree Bamzai
We hate you for SHOWING US THE MIRROR!!
When we can scare away the virus by chanting hyms and cure it with cow piss – where’s room for charity .
Ugh!!
I think five times namaz and not wearing the mask but wearing cap(which Muslims wear I don’t what is it called) will also help us to get rid of corona virus
Yeah and what mirror , silly guy? Do you know where temple funds are used? Can the author say how much of tirupathi funds are used in Andhra Pradesh by the govt ? And can the author say how much does churhes and mosques contribute to govt ? Their metrics are useless …they use western metrics which measure how much they give within local communities. Indians by far give a lot to temples which are then used for social uplift purposes. We now see how the western response to coronavirus is and how the east asian and south east asian responses are. What’s wrong in chanting hymns for world safety and health..much better than saying you will go to heaven only if you believe in one messenger or another? Aren’t indians also doing within their own communities to help the watchmen and housekeeping people? Anyhow silly dimwits will always criticise hinduism or indian culture all the time because either they are brainwashed or bought. Let’s see for example, western secularism….Europe killed its less than 5% minorities in second world war ( all Europe in a way we’re happy about Jews being killed, they fought Hitler not for the sake of Jews but because they were afraid he would invade them) whereas India always had minorities from millennia..and no one force killed any minorities on mass scale…india even today has 24% minorities while no European country has. We don’t need lessons of tolerance from outside
Some doubts / problems in an Indian’s mind while GIVING –
1) The trust or organization that receives my money may cheat – some indeed do.
2) The money may be used for other unwholesome purposes – like religious conversion – some of which is true.
3) Some casteism – my money is better served going to my caste people.
4) Karma concept – all receive their just dessert, my interference won’t cause much change
5) Lack of many “giving” models or heroes. Givers like Karna were aligned with bad people.
6) Glorification of poverty – it is better to be poor and receive God’s grace, than otherwise.
Each of the above points requires intellectual and moral challenge and resolved in the Indian pysche.
This is all wrong. Europe gives less than the US. Why is that? US taxes less than Europe. Maybe. India is a low trust society and people do not trust institutions. That is why the local temple gives more to the poor than supposed NGO charities. Karma has nothing to do with charity, stop believing everything your convent school taught you. They have an agenda.
The Columnist has hit the nail on the head. Btw, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh coined the slogan”Nar Seva, Narayan Seva” which means”Service to man is service to Narayan (God)” and has practiced it consistently.
Because the media glorifies them and never dare to criticize them, so write long articles which mean nothing, wonder if it fetches money or is it pro bono.
The headline is misleading. A number of celebrities have donated to PM or CM relief funds. This puts more resources into the hands of governments who are in the forefront fighting this epidemic. And the same question can be asked of the Print and its journalists like Ms. Bamzaee who clearly belong to the upper strata of the society. Charity after all begins from home.
How much The Author,The Print & its staff donated money?Pl Publish.
Everyone has their own axe to grind, I guess, including the journalists.
This article seems to be not considering the fact that there are tons of people, ordinary people doing the charity as per their own capacity. Real and selfless charity has lot deeper roots in India than west. Since what west and European countries are doing are recorded and what happens in india is not, it could be perceived as philanthropy in india is less. This does not mean there is no charity or reduced philanthropy in India.
We have donated in our individual capacities to the poor in our neighbourhood. If you see it is mainly the Hindu organizations like RSS branches, Bajrang dal and Sarvajanik Ganesh mandal which are helping the poor and needy in their locality. Unlime church nnmoswues these people are not differentiating between people while distributing food and other essential items. The christian missionaries who otherwise are very active converting migrants and poor families are infact almost missing. Major Temples which receive huge donations from devotees pay huge amount of tax almost upto 40 to fifty percent of donations as tax to the govt . While due to their so called minority status Churches and mosques are exempted from paying a single paise to govt treasury. But they receive huge amount of grants in aid and even salaries of their staff from govt. So Hindu donations are used up for grants to church n mosques.
In addition to the tax amount, temples have donated extra amount in hundreds of crores to PM CARES fund. Churches or mosques have hardly contributed. They only take from govt
There is no need to emphasize that the present catastrophe being unleased on Human Race is beyond any parallels in the living memory. This virus do not distinguish between the race, cast creed, religion, rich, poor and nationalities. There is no doubt that man will ultimately concur it but when and at what cost, nobody knows. It is also for sure that world will not be the same again. Though no one on this earth will remain untouched but the maximum price will be paid by the marginal sections of the society. We should consider it as our moral duty to make them our partners and spend a percentage of our assets exclusively and exclusively on them.
A part of earnings of a large number of respectful citizen of our country does not 100% stand the scrutiny of law of the land. They are either not paying the statutory taxes and duties on their income or their source of income is such which is debarred under law. Such part of their income either would have gone in taxes and duties or if against law would not have come to them at the first instance. These incomes are resultant of peculiar circumstances prevailing in the country in the past.
My appeal is to owners of such assets created through such income. I most humbly request them to part with at least 10% of such income/assets collected in the last five years and spend on the marginal of the society. They may choose sufferers and method of helping as per their own conscience and convenience. Such help will go a long way in mitigating the sufferings.
If the situation persists, the day is not far away when the individual wealth will be reduced to fraction of what it is worth today. So please act before it is too late. People are eagerly looking towards your largesse.
As usual writing bullshit about indian religions. All indian religions specifically ask to serve the poor and needy to accumulate good karma. Such a biased view of Indian religions. Infact karma is the only good concept that says you are responsible for your actions and that no god is going to just write away your bad deeds unlike all abrahamic religions which gives this veto to their gods. Silly author , no wonder most people don’t relate to the silly sickular people who only find ways to demean indian way of life and culture. Today the east asian and south east asian countries are doing much better than the west….so don’t bullshit your paid up shit to us.
This is a national emergency. I appeal to the leaders of industry, film industry, sports personalities, politicians and others to come forward and help the Government and the needy citizens. An actor of Bahubali film has donated 4 Crores. International Tennis and Football heroes have donated 1 million dollars/euros. It is time for the Indian heroes to rise to the occasion spontaneously..
A little difficult to generalise. The Tatas have always been known to be truly enlightened when it comes to philanthropy. Azim Premji is another diamond. During the terrible drought of 1972, the Mafatlals had started delivering a low cost nutrition package to the poor. While the sort of giving away of wealth that many American billionaires have pledged is unlikely in India, partly because most wealth is. In the form of shares that the children would inherit to continue to control the enterprise, at each level of affluence, Indians do share with the less privileged. Wife and I have resolved to take exceptional care of the small number of people who are in our immediate circle of contact. These are difficult times for most Indians. We should try to be compassionate.
I thnk author is talking about the wealthy people like Amitabh Bachchan, Virat Kohli, etc. in general, and not a few ultra wealthy people like Tata, Birla, Mafatlal, Azim Premji, etc.