Lending hands to Someone is Better than Giving a Dole | HPSC Preparation: All subjects - HPSC (Haryana) PDF Download

Philosophy

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This quote is very similar to the topic at hand as the doles, which means ‘giving freely as a temporary relief’ would be helpful in a single instance but won’t help the person to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. The true worth or value of anything will never be realized until and unless it comes out of their true experience, knowledge, and hard work. The benefits of ‘lending hands’ are manifold when we help someone in person. We create a positive environment of nurturing, and we make such a person self-reliant so that later in life that he/ she would not have to depend on anyone else for ‘doles’.

Feasibility and sustainability of Doles

The rationale behind this is to become an “active” helper to create a chain of inspiration for millions. Nowadays, economic thinkers are arguing over subsidies, which are debated repeatedly based on their feasibility and sustainability and whether it is the correct measure to bring positive change in Indian agriculture or just temporary relief. However, such a complacent attitude also results in these doles becoming a burden on the taxpayers as well as the economy as a whole. Therefore, there needs to be a corrective approach to increase the capability of the needy by providing measures that help them in the long term, like good irrigation facilities since most of the Indian agriculture is rainfed.
With the government lending out doles by providing subsidies and showering huge sums of money on unsustainable activities, which might help only once, but their utility, in the long run, is negligible. For instance, writing off the loans of the farmers may only help them to deal with financial distress in a particular season, but if this money was used to establish a sustainable irrigation infrastructure, good quality of seeds, or other agricultural inputs being passed on them, the scope of such situation is mitigated in the future.
As per various government reports, in MGNREGA, very few durable assets were created, which shows that paying wages for regular unskilled work should be substituted with regular upskilling workers and providing them with many avenues to earn their own livelihood rather than just paying for no work being done or work which has minor applicability. Also, businesses should be provided with a level playing field and an environment of ease of performing business activities rather than providing them with hefty concessions. This way, they will be able to perform on merit without doles from the government.

Vocational Training and skill Development Programs

In domains like education and health sectors which have pervasive relevance regardless of the class and group to which the person belongs is very significant in improving one’s living standards. Therefore, to bring in meaningful changes like value-based education, vocational training, and skill development are a slew of needed things rather than just extending perks and doles to raise the standard of living of the weaker sections. The support offered has to be more comprehensive and visionary instead of short-sighted so that they are adequately capable of participating and contributing to India’s growth process. India as a whole can reap the benefits of the demographic dividend.

Asia Africa Growth Corridor Partnership for Sustainable Development

India has time and again held the hand of the poor nations to nurture their indigenous projects, for example, the Asia Africa Growth Corridor, where it partnered with Japan to bring sustainable growth in the African continent. However, India’s role in upholding this trust by helping least developed countries must stretch further and must go beyond providing them with immediate help in the form of cash grants or line of credits, rather India should follow a farsighted approach of helping these nations to develop skills and capabilities to actively engage in work and deal with such issues together. This may include technology transfer, knowledge exchange, skill development which would also benefit India in the long term in stabilizing its relations with these countries and building a strong partnership.

Empowering Women

Empowerment of women helps them feel liberated, and time and again, they have proven in multiple fields that they need not rely on their male counterparts for the things to be done. Merely sympathizing with women and not doing anything to do away with the deplorable conditions they face in society won’t help. On the contrary, they should be empowered further to take decisions on their own. The promotion of self-help groups and various government bodies should be the main focus of government to provide women to collectively come together and work for their livelihood rather than just relying on unilateral transfers by the government. Such initiatives shall prove to be liberating and truly empowering.

Natural Disasters and Doles

In the situation of disasters, contributing to the rescue efforts to our best capacity can save many lives. Thus, an act of saving a life would be considered better in comparison to the monetary donations we give in the post-disaster phase and later in situations we can give those whose lives are affected by disaster money for better food, clothing and help better resilient infrastructure so that in the future impact of such disasters can be mitigated. Arguments favoring putting active help above the dole can be debated as the first situation is when giving immediate relief/doles is the only possible help we can do because of disasters.
Once Abraham Lincoln, the former president of the United States, being the eldest among his siblings, after his parents had passed away in his childhood, he went out to get food for his hungry family. On his way home, a hungry soldier politely asked him for the food. He gave the sole piece of fish to the soldier stating that “you risk your life for saving our lives, so, you need this fish more than my family does.” So, in certain situations, a gentle lending hand can also be a major relief. Swami Vivekananda aptly said: ‘We are our own help. ‘If we can’t help ourselves, there is none to help us. Individuals, communities, nations, and organizations should follow this to prevent ‘spoonfeeding’ and encouraging self-reliance.
Helping others should be the primary motivation of any human being, and such help need not always be in the form of monetary donation. Rendering a helping hand by offering services or expertise is much more valuable. Moreover, one should recognize the kind of help that is required as per the situation. Different circumstances require different kinds of help. In the example of the Nepal earthquake 2015, the most appropriate help was to provide shelter and food, which could be arranged at short notice due to the helping nature and compassion of people around the world.
When our act of kindness has inspired others, and the spark initiated by us has spread the fragrance of helpfulness, compassion, and humanity to innumerable people, then in such situations, only can we promise compassion being spread all across the world. It is rightly said, “Time and money spent helping men do more for themselves is far better than mere giving”.