The government of Tamil Nadu has many incentive programs and free products for poor families, but are they really helping to uplift them from poverty or are they just giving them a good dose of materialism and greed?
Extra! Extra! Read all about it. Free Televisions for the poor!
If a slum dweller in Chennai gets a free television from the government that's great! Here's the downside: That person potentially doesn't even have electricity, but it will make a great table for a shrine to Jesus or Shiva. If they have electricity they have to buy cable or a dish satellite. They have to pay a monthly fee, minus that from their huge bank account or wad of rupee bills stashed in a plastic jar. All the neighbors will come in the evening to enjoy programming, but individually owned and politically owned television channels will monopolize their time away from family discussion or study time. Finally if your neighbor gets a television you will have to one up them and buy a TV plus a DVD player. The grass is always greener on the other side.
Free low grade rice! 20 Kilos per month!
Thank goodness for free rice because the agriculture workers earning 30 rupees a day can't afford food for themselves let alone for their collection of children. Too bad their not giving free birth control, but wait! There was one village that was subject to free vasectomy's. One village. If a coolie worker is getting 30 rupees per day they may try to work 20-25 days a month depending on where they are living. If a coolie worker is getting a free 20 kilo bag of rice they may only work 10 days a month. There's no note attached to give the laboring class ideas about saving for their future, children's education, or medical emergencies, so that means they don't have to work as much. If a family eats rice and sambar or kanji once every day, they are not motivated by this 20 kilos of rice to eat rice and sambar with chicken, or a carrot side dish. There is not note attached giving them a lesson on nutrition either. I assume some people are not working less and maybe their meals improve, but the local perception is people are lazy and basically bad, so why would they even bother.
Other incentives:
+ 20,000 rupees from the government when you marry off your daughter... after paying the dowry which is supposed to be illegal
+ free gas stoves, then you can buy an expensive fuel tank instead of cooking outside with firewood... this is definitely good if it is raining outside, also the food will cook much faster with the gas stove and the women will have to spend less time cooking. If your daily work and toil is not appreciated then throwing together a fast rasam and sambar is more beneficial than squatting in the backyard over four stack of bricks and a bubbling pot.
+ free bicycles will get you to work more easily and the whole family can use the bike
+ in rare instances scholarships for better education are given, hopefully this will increase in the future
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