Highlights

Poverty eradication or ‘Garibi Hatao’ has long been an ineffective political slogan. We in India still have a lot of poverty even though our market economy policies have considerably reduced it in the past three decades, especially in the last decade. However, poverty is relative and can only be considered eradicated once every citizen has a decent stake in the wealth of our Country with the prospect of growth, and that needs proper action.

Background

• History and the travellers who came to India in the ancient times tell us that there was no real poverty in India in those times when the GDP of lndia was between 25 and 33 percent of the World’s GDP. It was only the invaders and the colonizers who made us poor.
• GARIB! HATAO! – has only been a slogan for long with no action thereon. Universal suffrage assumes that all voters have a stake in the Nation and hence, seek its welfare when voting. But reality is that the poor in India don’t have any such stake and hence, their vote is for sale for any immediate benefit. The poor in India have practically no way to really improve their lot as circumstances are today. This needs to change hence, a practical and actionable scheme is proposed herein to change things and make ‘GARIB! HATAO’ a meaningful and effective reality and to bring about greater equitability into our Society.
• To give every Indian a stake in the wealth of the Country and its future. Every Indian citizen should own some asset in India to feel a sense of ownership and share in the concept of India and be willing to stand and fight for it. Those poor, who presently don’t have such assets, need a one-time subsidy from the Government, to be able to claim ownership of something of India in their equity holding in India’s Companies through properly regulated Financial Institutions. This will give them a proper sense of possession / ownership and belonging, which will then give them and their children something to defend. Of course, such a subsidy should not call upon the scarce current revenues of the Country but perhaps better utilize those locked up in unproductive assets of the State while also, allowing for revitalization of such assets.
• Most of the wealth that was taken out of the Country is steadily returning into the Equity Market in India, directly or indirectly and can be viewed as some of the Indian money in Foreign Banks returning into India, via Participatory Notes and other ways allowed under the UPA regime and to an extent, even now. Hence, allowing the poor to also, benefit from such increases in the Equity markets, through specially set up and, properly regulated Financial Institutions or the Mutual Funds (MF’s) which would now invest in this market, would only be equitable.
• To allow more or all of the Indian money in Foreign Banks, which had and still is being pumped into the share market, to be brought back and also, benefit those who are being left behind. Something that may also, at least substitute for the pre-2014, alleged election campaign promise of putting Rs.15 lakhs into each poor Indian family’s bank account.

Quotations for Consideration

“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is the protection of a fundamental human Right, the Right to dignity and a decent life.” – Nelson Mandela

“You can’t get rid of poverty by giving people money.” – P. J .O’Rourke

“Iam for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not by making them easy in poverty, but by leading or driving them out of it.” – Benjamin Franklin.

“Charity is no solution to Poverty.” – Mohd. Yunus

“Development is helping nation to actually develop – Moving from poverty to prosperity.” – Barrack Obama

“The opposite of Poverty is not Wealth; The opposite of Poverty is Enough.” – Dr. Wess Stafford

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