I’ve been increasingly coming across not-so-favorable views for a word, which has traditionally been deemed virtuous: charity, as in donations. The most commonly leveled charge finds charity unsustainable. The fact that many practice it for religious reasons, as opposed to a belief in justice/equality of opportunities, seems to trigger this negative bent of mind. In this context, sustainability implies that your approach enables the beneficiaries to look after themselves after some time (varying from days to years, based on the social problem having been undertaken), with no or little support from outside.
As true with quite a few things in life, a blanket opinion on charity is unreasonable, because the term could potentially entail a wide variety of actions. If my perception of charity is confined to the distribution of rice outside a temple/church/mosque, unmistakably, there is no denying the conclusion that the dependence on your intervention will never vanish. But, this primitive, age-old notion does not characterize many – if not most – of the charities. An excellent case in point is education, the avenue receiving the biggest frequency of donations.
One truism that no one can ever dispute is the right of every single child to education (and, for that matter, heathcare & nutrition) of adequate quality. Ideally, the government ought to see to it that this right is upheld for one and all; but in India, the reality is a far cry from that. The most desirable solution is to fix the problem at the source by overhauling the govt, possibly by getting heaps of honest, brainy, change-pursuing people into the administration, and more so, into our polity. I couldn’t be more supportive of this, and it gladdens me to see growingly many around me (myself included) giving it a grave thought.
However, an overwhelming majority (of the middle & upper classes) simply don’t/can’t contemplate IAS/politics as career options. Charity arms them with alternative ammunition to chip in without having to go much out of the way. Their donations, coupled with change agents on the ground, make happen what the govt should, but doesn’t. From equipping govt schools with infrastructure to providing nutritious enough mid day meals to supporting needy students’ educational expenses (beyond standard 10) [e.g., FoCh], your funding helps empower future citizens to sustain themselves via education. Moreover, this is just one of the many instances where charity chiefly contributes to sustainable/holistic development:
- Invest in solar energy to light up rural areas [e.g., Maitri]. It attacks urban migration & climate change, two of the acutest issues making human living unsustainable.
- Fund rain water harvesting/tree planting initiatives [e.g., Arghyam, Trees for free].
- Support groups that act as watchdogs for the effective implementation of pro-poor govt schemes like the NREGA, by employing tools such as the RTI [e.g., MKSS].
- Fund NGOs providing free training for livelihood generation [e.g., Unnati].
PS 1: Donations to orphanages are often dubbed sentimental rather than rational. But, when the govt fails to own up to helpless kids, ain’t orphanages the next best thing?
PS 2: I am currently reading “How to change the world” which takes you through the journeys of select social entrepreneurs from across the globe. Charity, also referred to as fund raising, is reported to be an integral part of most of those (success) stories. Large-scale. lasting changes require for-profits and non-profits to complement each other, with mutual respect.
Filed under: General Musings | Tagged: alternate energy, change the system, charity, donations, ecological destruction, education, employment generation, for-profit, fund raising, IAS, livelihood, make a difference, mid day meal, migration, non-profit, orphanage, politics, rain water harvesting, religion, right, social entrepreneur, sustainability, tree planting
I totally disagree with you. I know its futile attempt but still I will give one argument: charity creates dependency and can never eliminate dependency.
And by the way you might want to look into your confusion between charity and investment.
@Sukesh: Clearly, you conceived this comment after a very cursory/selective read of the post. I have gone on at length as to how charity can help people stand on their feet – by imparting education, providing vocational training, setting up sustainable energy systems, and the like. Yes, there is the initial period of dependence. But, then you and I were also dependent on our parents for the best part of two decades, but we are self-sufficient now, aint we? So, your assumption (it’s not an argument) that something that has created dependency once will never be able to rise above it, can’t be more flawed. Besides, isn’t it childish to expect a child to drop in to the world without “dependency”? :)
What confusion are you referring to? If it pertains to “Invest in solar energy …”, I put it that way because both the modalities are possible: You can make a pure donation towards a solar panel, and also “invest” in the same with likely interest earning and guaranteed capital return, after some (typically, 2-4) years.
Reiterating what I said in the post, I am all for systemic changes, for-profit ventures, micro-lending initiatives like Dhanax and Rang De, too. The key insight is that different people have different constraints/preferences, and to maximize the extent and quickness of change, there need to exist a multitude of tools for them to pick from. It’s an AND scenario, not OR. Even some of the most influential social entrepreneurs (people using their skills to effect social change; it’s perfectly fine if they make profit in the process) have relied heavily on charity, esp. in the first few years, to build proof-of-concept systems, enabling them to secure state funding. Many continue to utilize donations – organizational and individual – even thereafter, because it amplifies their scale of operations.
Add “RangDe” (rangde.org) who do this social investment stuff… even that’s a nice way to go about if charity is not one’s cuppa !
and BTW, Nilenkani’s house in Koramangla is actually named “Aarghyam” as is their rain water harvesting initiative !
Very well thought out and well written post. It clearly defines Charity. I totally agree with Pulkit that Charity means helping someone stand on their foot financially, intellectually, socially. For doing that you have to give someone a support and initial support can never be termed as creating “Dependency”. I agree that there has to be caution applied while donating to make sure that recipient is not becoming dependent on the funds forever but we cannot hide behind illogical arguments such as “I am not doing charity because it will create dependence”. It is like – if my six months old son gets sick then I will not take him to doctor. I will let him recover by himself because if I take him to doctor then he will become dependent on me and on medicine. It is sad if educated people will start using such excuses.
Even though this post describes charity and its intention very well, the need for charity needs to be emphasized more. The charity should become integral part of everyone’s daily routine. Just like how we take out a portion of monthly salary and put it aside for future savings, we need to be doing the same for charity. As described on the post, there are many NGOs out there who can be benefited greatly from regular donations as it helps them plan their activities better.
For people who are religious – no matter what religious holy book you refer to (Bible, Geeta, Qur’an, etc), you will notice religion asking followers to adhere to charity for noble cause, for humane work (for God’s work). Some holy books have even gone to the extent of calling one a thief, if he/she uses all of their money for themselves and their families only and doesn’t take out a share for needy people.
I find this post to be an eye opener for anyone who has yet not integrated charity as part of his/her life. Thanks for this post and keep it up.
I would also agree with you Pulkit.. Charity as a word should be redefined as giving back with a sense of responsibility. I agree to the points you’ve raised here! :)