The Hindu Business Line : The elite have a big responsibility

Story so far: On the night before one more New Year begins, I drive by big posters announcing midnight bashes to welcome 2007 `in style' along with cine stars and dancers. These events have hefty price-tags, but that doesn't seem to deter the revellers. What bothers me, though, is the sight of many poor and homeless, making do with the pavements.

Episode 156

What can the New Year mean to the destitute? Not a popular question to ask when almost everybody was in a celebratory mood, but that was the poser I wrapped my episode with, last week. The first mail in response is from Palaniappan of Pudukkottai. "Every Monday, I read your article. It is very interesting. Keep it up," he writes. Thanks Palaniappan, don't forget to mail in your comments too!

"Dear Swati, you are right that for the have-nots, New Year is just another day. They go to work as usual or starve, whereas the others, spend a lot of money on dancing and drinking," frets M.A. Srinivasan. "It is better we put an end to this. Let us resolve to work for the betterment of the poor and the farmers." Emphatic.

"Dear Swati, Happy New Year to you. I share your feelings on the plight of footpath-dwellers on New Year's eve with revellers roaming on the streets," writes B.V. Kumar, Lecturer, Government Polytechnic, Nellore. "We see leaders speaking of economic reforms, and their so-called `human face,' BPL families and a jugglery of statistics.Food wasted at such extravaganzas should, instead, be given to those struggling to survive." Anguishing thoughts.

"Self-aggrandisement is the order of the day. People say there is no money. But shopping malls are thronging with people making large-scale purchases of luxury items. As is well-known, charity must begin at home. My heart goes out to those young women struggling on the streets to provide a few crumbs to their little ones. My heart also goes to my mother and wife who, back home, struggle to make all other family members happy and peaceful, for which they do not ask for any Basic Pay, DA or CCA. If I call them `assets,' I will be only showing my commercial bent of mind. So I better call them `God's precious and lovely gifts' to me in this life.'" Heart-warming, this should be, for housewives.

"The day when a human being, affluent or middle income, lends a helping hand to the poverty-stricken will be dawn of the real New Year, in my opinion," wraps his mail. Thanks, Kumar, for that passionate outpouring.

"The issue could not have been more timely," remarks Krithivasan. "In a land of stark disparities between the rich and the poor, these celebrations are certainly in bad taste. We may see relative prosperity in the cities with shops, malls, and so on. But the spreading slums and the suicides of farmers almost everywhere reveal the dark side of India. The other day, in Mumbai, a leading hotel offered exclusive arrangements for couples, with tariff rates of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, for New Year celebrations, with special rooms, dinner and other attractions thrown in. Crores would have been spent all over India on December 31 on partying, sending SMS, greeting cards, etc. Even if 10-20 per cent of that kind of money is spent on the poor, millions could have satiated their hunger for over a month." Powerful sentiments.

"New Year means a lot to the poor and the homeless," says M. Radhakrishnan. "One has to understand that inequality is bound to be there in any society. That should not stop someone from spending his earnings in a rightful manner. We all stand on the pavement and think that those going in cars are very lucky and that the money has come easily to them. But the truth is that most of them have worked hard in their life to reach that position. So, what is wrong if they spend their hard-earned money? If not, why should we work hard in the first place? Therefore, this New Year, we should realise that those who have money have worked hard for it and resolve to do the same. I have a lot of friends who were born in a very poor background but are now very rich. And they have paid a high price, in the form of hard work, to attain that position." Thought-provoking.

"Dear Swati, the realeconomic development of any country is determined by whether the poor have easy access to basic amenities such as food, clothing and shelter without any compromise of their self-respect and dignity. But New Year celebrations of the urban youth in most cases points to the skew in the spread of wealth in our society, where the rich continue to become richer and the poor, poorer," laments Sriram Kannan.

"What is required to address this disparity in society is the need for policies that help the poor earn a better livelihood and also ensure that the standard of living is raised for the poor and homeless, along with growth of the society around them," he suggests. "Though public debate can give rise to zillions of ideas, any policy that addresses the issues at the grass-root level must be implemented with an open mind. I think the micro-credit approach of the Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus would be a step in the right direction." Thanks Sriram.

"Dear Swati-garu, New Year resolutions such as `I will stop begging,' `I will start a petty business,' or `I will work as a labourer,' would really bring about a revolution in the lives of the poor and the homeless," suggests P.V. Sudhakar Rao from Ongole. "As we all know, only the old, the handicapped, and the diseased cannot work. Nowadays, many are extending help to such people. We need not be overly sympathetic to the others." I wonder, Sudhakar, if it is really easy to put into effect the resolutions you have mentioned.

"Dear Swati, good point to raise at the beginning of yet another year, in which the chasm between haves and have-nots is, in all probability, going to widen," begins a mail from C. Prahalad, Consulting and Enterprise Solutions, Satyam Computer Services Ltd, Chennai. "What does New Year revelry mean to the common man? Nothing! What does the `year of broadband' mean to him, when he does not know what he will do to earn his bread the next day? I am appalled by the fact that developmental activities are certainly not focusing on inclusiveness. On the one hand, there is a certain section of society that seems hell-bent on wasting money in the form of New Year bashes and the like. They probably are contributing to the `consumption' aspect of the GDP growth. To aid this growth, we have hoteliers and restaurateurs cashing in on these events by charging hefty tariffs. "What have we, as the educated `partying' class, done towards contributing to society positively? I am still not clear how December 31 and January 1, with just 24-hours gap between them, are any different! Probably, yet another miserable year for the poor. They are noticed only during election years and that happens, unfortunately, only once in five years. Seldom are the poll promises kept and we have to wait for a spate of suicides for something to happen. Promises are hollow, and not backed byaction.

"Is the view of India confined to the metropolis? Any new development happens in areas where the investments have already poured in and enough has been done for development. For areas that need to be developed, political parties claim that they have adequately compensated the landless and are striving hard to provide jobs to the displaced. And so we go on in circles. Are we kidding ourselves? Do we need New Year parties at all? Or do we need the wealthy and well-off to apportion a part of their earnings, that they would have otherwise spent on revelry, to go into a fund for uplifting the poor so that they can at least be assured of one square meal a day? Or do we need the Finance Minister to step in to tax all such revelry at unprecedented rates and use the proceeds of the taxes towards inclusive development?" Thanks, Prahalad, for the empathy.

On alcoholism

"Dear Swati, I endorse your view 100 per cent," states M. Thanga Velu, in response to the earlier episode on how calamity relief can fuel alcoholism. "As a teetotaller I have seen thousands of families get ruined by alcoholism. In Puducherry, the wine shops even give credit to pensioners and collect monthly dues during the pension payments. Some shops accept credit cards too. I have never seen any family recover from the ruin if the breadwinner became alcoholic. In the fishing hamlets in those days the auction amount for wine shops used to set a record. Now, the shops owned by the government fetch good revenue. In fact, the government encourages the sale at these hamlets, knowing fully well that liquor ruins the ordinary but hard-working fisher-folk."

Thanga Velu narrates how, during tsunami rehabilitation, fishermen refused to accept used clothes, but insisted on clothes of superior quality, since they earned a sizable income from fishing and dressed well. "Hence, we bought new clothes and new household utensils, which they readily accepted. If they are so affluent, why are they are still poor? Because of alcoholism. They spend half their income on alcohol. These people are not educated and they are ignorant of consequences."

If at all we want to rescue them from this menace, only the NGOs can play a significant role, he says. "Construct good schools in the vicinity; they can afford to pay the fees. Educate them, especially the womenfolk, about the evils of alcoholism. Fight for the removal of wine shops near the fishing hamlets. Teach them the habit of saving, since I have not ever seen a small cooperative bank, even in big fishing hamlet. By saving these hapless fishing folk from alcoholism, we would be doing the best service to them."

Bajaj batting

The day's fare on telly was depressing. In Cape Town, Indians were heading towards `a particularly agonising and painful defeat', as commentators put it. We had at least three opportunities to put the cricket Test beyond South Africa, but we seemed to be missing them all. Switching off the TV, I decided to drive down to attend a B-fest of Great Lakes Institute of Management, called L'Attitude 13° 05'. The numbers indicate the latitude of Chennai!

The Green Meadows resort in Palavakkam, where the events took place, was dotted with MBA students from across the country, engaged in one activity or the other, be it a business quiz or a case presentation. Everyone then assembled on the lawns by the swimming pool, to hear their chief guest, who was the iconic industrialist Rahul Bajaj.

In a persuasive speech delivered extempore, Mr Bajaj spoke of the urgent need to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots. "The elite have a big responsibility," he thundered, pausing to let his thought sink in among the assembled bright youngsters who held the promise of joining the ranks of tomorrow's elite. "Wherever you are, remember that you are batting for your country," urged Mr Bajaj, and everyone listened in rapt attention.

While returning home, I wondered if we need to adapt the curriculum of our management courses to the social needs, to enable the students encounter the real-life problems that people face in this mammoth democracy. Send in your thoughts by Friday.

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