Why does India provide billions of dollars of aid to Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Other Countries, when many indians are in poverty and not having enough basic facilities?
The biggest flaw in this is, the assumption of, money solves everything. Money solves many things. But, that alone does not solve everything. The assumption that many people have here is, instead of giving Rs.100 crore to Nepal, if we give it to our people, then immediately, 10,000 people would come out of the poverty permanently. But, that is not the case.
In India, If anybody is not having basic facilities, there can be several reasons.
First one is, whether the person who is not having basic facilities, trying enough to get those. First thing that we have to understand is, life is not fair. Few people may get everything without doing any work, and few people may not get anything even after trying everything. But, before we start criticizing others, we have to see whether we have done everything or not. Many people underestimate the impact of knowledge, guidance and skill development and they won't take it even if it is offered for free. Without improving the knowledge and skills, if more money is given, it won't be used efficiently. Another major problem with Indians is, if I propose a plan where they can get some X money, and I get 10X for the same time spent without extra money [The only difference is, I have more knowledge], many people would reject the proposal right away. Not because, X is not enough for them, but, because, they are getting too less when compared to what am I getting. Even if they accept it, they will always think that I am exploiting them. There were several instances of people rejecting very good proposals from corporate companies, just because, they felt, those companies were exploiting them. Rejecting that kind of proposals does no good for them.
Local issues like water, small street roads, primary schools, drainage etc., are controlled by the local government. If you elect a very corrupted person as the Chairperson, Mayor or Surpanch, then, even if hundreds of crores of money is given to your area, the problem will not be solved. If you elect a capable person, then even if the state government is not supporting, they will use all the channels possible to get things done for that area. Many people do not know that, local elections are individual specific (nothing to do with political party) with executive powers without any policy change powers. Eventhough, I never vote for Arvind Kejriwal for state or center elections, if he contests for local elections, I will definitely vote for him. When I read the news of a person who did not vote for his mother in local elections, because, she contested from BJP, and BJP/Modi is against reservations, I lost words and felt pity for him.
For standard of living of individuals, state plays major role than the union government. Even in the limited areas that the union government controls, mostly, it is a supplement to what state government does. Also, state government can override in many things, probably except in railways and couple of other areas. For example, if union government allows export of particular items, state government can say no. In most cases, the low standard of living is not because of lack of money, but, because of the policy decisions of state government in obstructing everything. If state government changes their policies, then without any extra money, the standard of living would improve.
Most of the problems faced by India can be solved without any extra money. It is just that, we should work to solve it, and should elect capable people who can solve it, in the three layers of the government. If we don't go with the proper solution, even if we are given trillions, quadrillions or quintillions, the problem would still remain.
Let's suppose I am the Prime Minister and I have Rs.400 crore surplus. One state Chief Minister is asking me huge money for their state, since, that state lost many things. Rumours have it that, he is going to spend around Rs.400 crore for one day celebration. Afghanistan does not have basic infrastructure, and if I give some money to them, when time comes, I can ask them to restart military operations in our military base in their country, which would be useful if there is a war with Pakistan, or even to stop Pakistan from not starting the war. In this case, I will give Rs.400 crore to Afghanistan, and will give sand to the Chief Minister.
The biggest flaw in this is, the assumption of, money solves everything. Money solves many things. But, that alone does not solve everything. The assumption that many people have here is, instead of giving Rs.100 crore to Nepal, if we give it to our people, then immediately, 10,000 people would come out of the poverty permanently. But, that is not the case.
In India, If anybody is not having basic facilities, there can be several reasons.
First one is, whether the person who is not having basic facilities, trying enough to get those. First thing that we have to understand is, life is not fair. Few people may get everything without doing any work, and few people may not get anything even after trying everything. But, before we start criticizing others, we have to see whether we have done everything or not. Many people underestimate the impact of knowledge, guidance and skill development and they won't take it even if it is offered for free. Without improving the knowledge and skills, if more money is given, it won't be used efficiently. Another major problem with Indians is, if I propose a plan where they can get some X money, and I get 10X for the same time spent without extra money [The only difference is, I have more knowledge], many people would reject the proposal right away. Not because, X is not enough for them, but, because, they are getting too less when compared to what am I getting. Even if they accept it, they will always think that I am exploiting them. There were several instances of people rejecting very good proposals from corporate companies, just because, they felt, those companies were exploiting them. Rejecting that kind of proposals does no good for them.
Local issues like water, small street roads, primary schools, drainage etc., are controlled by the local government. If you elect a very corrupted person as the Chairperson, Mayor or Surpanch, then, even if hundreds of crores of money is given to your area, the problem will not be solved. If you elect a capable person, then even if the state government is not supporting, they will use all the channels possible to get things done for that area. Many people do not know that, local elections are individual specific (nothing to do with political party) with executive powers without any policy change powers. Eventhough, I never vote for Arvind Kejriwal for state or center elections, if he contests for local elections, I will definitely vote for him. When I read the news of a person who did not vote for his mother in local elections, because, she contested from BJP, and BJP/Modi is against reservations, I lost words and felt pity for him.
For standard of living of individuals, state plays major role than the union government. Even in the limited areas that the union government controls, mostly, it is a supplement to what state government does. Also, state government can override in many things, probably except in railways and couple of other areas. For example, if union government allows export of particular items, state government can say no. In most cases, the low standard of living is not because of lack of money, but, because of the policy decisions of state government in obstructing everything. If state government changes their policies, then without any extra money, the standard of living would improve.
Most of the problems faced by India can be solved without any extra money. It is just that, we should work to solve it, and should elect capable people who can solve it, in the three layers of the government. If we don't go with the proper solution, even if we are given trillions, quadrillions or quintillions, the problem would still remain.
Let's suppose I am the Prime Minister and I have Rs.400 crore surplus. One state Chief Minister is asking me huge money for their state, since, that state lost many things. Rumours have it that, he is going to spend around Rs.400 crore for one day celebration. Afghanistan does not have basic infrastructure, and if I give some money to them, when time comes, I can ask them to restart military operations in our military base in their country, which would be useful if there is a war with Pakistan, or even to stop Pakistan from not starting the war. In this case, I will give Rs.400 crore to Afghanistan, and will give sand to the Chief Minister.
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