I oppose all subsidies. These are only creating a class of dignified beggars. It is best to impart suitable education and skill to all based on potential so as to enable them to earn and stand on own feet.

Exactly! By providing a wide range of subsidies, the government is actually discouraging people from working hard and the young generation is straying away from doing anything worthwhile. And people like us are the ones who end up working their entire lives and spending lakhs and lakhs of rupees for a decent house and education of our children, while these types get everything for free! Whereas if we were to strive for betterment of all economical sections in our country, each and every individual should be working hard to get everything we need.

Instead of trying to root this out the politicians want more reservations , so much so that the quota anywhere for general public now is only about 41% because there are so many different kind of reservations ! One of my friends daughter was selected in the written exams for a course doing very well, but she could not get through in the interview round simply because out of 15 the general category was for just 6 and the rest were all reserved ...And even those 6 had recommendations !

Well, that is a kind of situation I myself have personally gone through!
The politicians are routing for increased reservations just for the sake of getting votes, but what no one realises or probably they do realise but won't admit that in the long run, this policy will only keep degrading the quality of the manpower as a whole finally leading to breakdown of all vital systems that need efficient manpower! :blink: I wonder when anyone will wake up to this fact!

It is already happening, we can see a dilution in quality everywhere in the governmental institutions ! Schools, hospitals and offices and our entire political system is performing so poorly ....what more can one say? It can only get worse ..

True! Degrading and disgusting state of affairs in schools, universities, hospitals, more and more number of pending cases in courts for really really stupid reasons, etc. we are heading towards total anarchy! :blink:

Thanks Usha for bringing up the issue as it is timely! I was going through a report on CAG raising serious objections to wide-spread misuse of funds by broking community of India which is mainly responsible for sapping the vitals of this nation and Congress Party headed Sonia Gandhi is indeed, a party of brokers. NREGA has been more abused than properly used to keep her followers happy!!!!!

It definitely is, the sad part is that people fil to see through them or simply dont care since there is very little choice.The Congress party uses every single card it cn to win an election.Here in Karnataka they have gone round saying that even the converts to christianity who orginally belonged to the backward classes will be given all the benefits ...

If a scheduled caste or backward converts from Hindu to Christianity or any other religion, his backwardness does not end. There is no reason why some body may be denied the benefits on conversion to another religion. However, it is time to consider the need to continue with the benefits based on caste.

The question is how does one measure backwardness? what is the barometer for it ? I have seen many so called backward class people leading a life of luxury and getting all the benefits on top of that ! There are many b upper caste people who are unable to land a job and find it difficult to get 2 square meals a day, so what backwardness are we talking about ?

Someone I know comes from a lower middle class family, but has a steady job earning Rs 9,000 per month. They belong to Scheduled tribe and here is a list of benefits they have got so far !
1, Free site measuring 3 cents (1008 sq ft)
2, Building expenses taken care of to the tune of 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees
3 ,Free electric wiring and all fixtures including bulbs and 2 fans
4, Free Water Supply + a overhead syntex tank
5, Free Gas connection with a single burner stove ( will have to pay for gas cylinders at a subsidised rate)
6, Subsidised Electric charges - Rs 175 per month regardless of how much they consume
7, Rice at Rs 2/ per KG
8, Free schooling for two children with a lump sum of Rs 2000 paid at the beginning of every school year
Then of course the other reservations and all other benefits...

I am not exaggerating ! This is a fact and we the tax payers have to bear the expenses ( directly or indirectly)

Someone I know comes from a lower middle class family, but has a steady job earning Rs 9,000 per month. They belong to Scheduled tribe and here is a list of benefits they have got so far !
1, Free site measuring 3 cents (1008 sq ft)
2, Building expenses taken care of to the tune of 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees
3 ,Free electric wiring and all fixtures including bulbs and 2 fans
4, Free Water Supply + a overhead syntex tank
5, Free Gas connection with a single burner stove ( will have to pay for gas cylinders at a subsidised rate)
6, Subsidised Electric charges - Rs 175 per month regardless of how much they consume
7, Rice at Rs 2/ per KG
8, Free schooling for two children with a lump sum of Rs 2000 paid at the beginning of every school year
Then of course the other reservations and all other benefits...

I am not exaggerating ! This is a fact and we the tax payers have to bear the expenses ( directly or indirectly)

India's poverty alleviation programs have miserably failed to make any impact on the lives of the marginalised section of our society mainly because of the delivery mechanisms are in the hands of political sharks. Even late Rajiv Gandhi condemned his own class for gobbling the meat of all these programs. And the scenario has changed very little in this regard. The ambitious Food Security Bill is another instance how political dividends have guided the launch of this dubious exercise. The government by its own admission claims that the proposed bill would take care the food needs of 80% of the populace. This is terrible! Let the government come up with a white paper on success and failures of all these programs launched ever since Independence.

Someone I know comes from a lower middle class family, but has a steady job earning Rs 9,000 per month. They belong to Scheduled tribe and here is a list of benefits they have got so far !
1, Free site measuring 3 cents (1008 sq ft)
2, Building expenses taken care of to the tune of 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees
3 ,Free electric wiring and all fixtures including bulbs and 2 fans
4, Free Water Supply + a overhead syntex tank
5, Free Gas connection with a single burner stove ( will have to pay for gas cylinders at a subsidised rate)
6, Subsidised Electric charges - Rs 175 per month regardless of how much they consume
7, Rice at Rs 2/ per KG
8, Free schooling for two children with a lump sum of Rs 2000 paid at the beginning of every school year
Then of course the other reservations and all other benefits...

I am not exaggerating ! This is a fact and we the tax payers have to bear the expenses ( directly or indirectly)

India's poverty alleviation programs have miserably failed to make any impact on the lives of the marginalised section of our society mainly because of the delivery mechanisms are in the hands of political sharks. Even late Rajiv Gandhi condemned his own class for gobbling the meat of all these programs. And the scenario has changed very little in this regard. The ambitious Food Security Bill is another instance how political dividends have guided the launch of this dubious exercise. The government by its own admission claims that the proposed bill would take care the food needs of 80% of the populace. This is terrible! Let the government come up with a white paper on success and failures of all these programs launched ever since Independence.

Very true ! Every single programe or scheme that was coined by the congress government was fuest of all half baked and never took off so to say because of corruption. Contrary to what most people say about Indira Gandhi being an able leader , in fact she institutionalised corruption in a big way and of course all other politicians regardless of what party they belonged to followed suit ..

Someone I know comes from a lower middle class family, but has a steady job earning Rs 9,000 per month. They belong to Scheduled tribe and here is a list of benefits they have got so far !
1, Free site measuring 3 cents (1008 sq ft)
2, Building expenses taken care of to the tune of 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees
3 ,Free electric wiring and all fixtures including bulbs and 2 fans
4, Free Water Supply + a overhead syntex tank
5, Free Gas connection with a single burner stove ( will have to pay for gas cylinders at a subsidised rate)
6, Subsidised Electric charges - Rs 175 per month regardless of how much they consume
7, Rice at Rs 2/ per KG
8, Free schooling for two children with a lump sum of Rs 2000 paid at the beginning of every school year
Then of course the other reservations and all other benefits...

I am not exaggerating ! This is a fact and we the tax payers have to bear the expenses ( directly or indirectly)

India's poverty alleviation programs have miserably failed to make any impact on the lives of the marginalised section of our society mainly because of the delivery mechanisms are in the hands of political sharks. Even late Rajiv Gandhi condemned his own class for gobbling the meat of all these programs. And the scenario has changed very little in this regard. The ambitious Food Security Bill is another instance how political dividends have guided the launch of this dubious exercise. The government by its own admission claims that the proposed bill would take care the food needs of 80% of the populace. This is terrible! Let the government come up with a white paper on success and failures of all these programs launched ever since Independence.

Very true ! Every single programe or scheme that was coined by the congress government was fuest of all half baked and never took off so to say because of corruption. Contrary to what most people say about Indira Gandhi being an able leader , in fact she institutionalised corruption in a big way and of course all other politicians regardless of what party they belonged to followed suit ..

@Usha

Here I would share one personal experience involving the ration-shop dealers - a pivot of the Public Distribution System. I was travelling to New Delhi in the same compartment which was packed with ration-shop dealers of West Bengal on their way to attend a so-called conference to be held in the national capital. I was privy to a few interesting pieces of conversations among them. After liberally feeding themselves with choicest of food and drinks at mid night ,they screamed in a united chorus " Duniyer Chor EK Hoy' rendered in English 'All Robbers and Thieves, Unite"!!!!!!!

Someone I know comes from a lower middle class family, but has a steady job earning Rs 9,000 per month. They belong to Scheduled tribe and here is a list of benefits they have got so far !
1, Free site measuring 3 cents (1008 sq ft)
2, Building expenses taken care of to the tune of 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees
3 ,Free electric wiring and all fixtures including bulbs and 2 fans
4, Free Water Supply + a overhead syntex tank
5, Free Gas connection with a single burner stove ( will have to pay for gas cylinders at a subsidised rate)
6, Subsidised Electric charges - Rs 175 per month regardless of how much they consume
7, Rice at Rs 2/ per KG
8, Free schooling for two children with a lump sum of Rs 2000 paid at the beginning of every school year
Then of course the other reservations and all other benefits...

I am not exaggerating ! This is a fact and we the tax payers have to bear the expenses ( directly or indirectly)

India's poverty alleviation programs have miserably failed to make any impact on the lives of the marginalised section of our society mainly because of the delivery mechanisms are in the hands of political sharks. Even late Rajiv Gandhi condemned his own class for gobbling the meat of all these programs. And the scenario has changed very little in this regard. The ambitious Food Security Bill is another instance how political dividends have guided the launch of this dubious exercise. The government by its own admission claims that the proposed bill would take care the food needs of 80% of the populace. This is terrible! Let the government come up with a white paper on success and failures of all these programs launched ever since Independence.

Very true ! Every single programe or scheme that was coined by the congress government was fuest of all half baked and never took off so to say because of corruption. Contrary to what most people say about Indira Gandhi being an able leader , in fact she institutionalised corruption in a big way and of course all other politicians regardless of what party they belonged to followed suit ..

@Usha

Here I would share one personal experience involving the ration-shop dealers - a pivot of the Public Distribution System. I was travelling to New Delhi in the same compartment which was packed with ration-shop dealers of West Bengal on their way to attend a so-called conference to be held in the national capital. I was privy to a few interesting pieces of conversations among them. After liberally feeding themselves with choicest of food and drinks at mid night ,they screamed in a united chorus " Duniyer Chor EK Hoy' rendered in English 'All Robbers and Thieves, Unite"!!!!!!!

Well, they said it themselves!! :blink: :blink: Their tribe is the same all over the country! I am not sure whether it is the case in other states but in Maharashtra the students in government schools are provided with midday meals consisting mainly of rice and dal khichdi. There are contractors who win contracts to provide khichadi daily by submitting tenders, a process rift with corruption as we all know and they are given large quantities of rice for cooking. These guys sell that rice meant for poor children and earn profits for themselves. I personally know one such person who sells 100 kilos rice on a daily basis!

Someone I know comes from a lower middle class family, but has a steady job earning Rs 9,000 per month. They belong to Scheduled tribe and here is a list of benefits they have got so far !
1, Free site measuring 3 cents (1008 sq ft)
2, Building expenses taken care of to the tune of 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees
3 ,Free electric wiring and all fixtures including bulbs and 2 fans
4, Free Water Supply + a overhead syntex tank
5, Free Gas connection with a single burner stove ( will have to pay for gas cylinders at a subsidised rate)
6, Subsidised Electric charges - Rs 175 per month regardless of how much they consume
7, Rice at Rs 2/ per KG
8, Free schooling for two children with a lump sum of Rs 2000 paid at the beginning of every school year
Then of course the other reservations and all other benefits...

I am not exaggerating ! This is a fact and we the tax payers have to bear the expenses ( directly or indirectly)

India's poverty alleviation programs have miserably failed to make any impact on the lives of the marginalised section of our society mainly because of the delivery mechanisms are in the hands of political sharks. Even late Rajiv Gandhi condemned his own class for gobbling the meat of all these programs. And the scenario has changed very little in this regard. The ambitious Food Security Bill is another instance how political dividends have guided the launch of this dubious exercise. The government by its own admission claims that the proposed bill would take care the food needs of 80% of the populace. This is terrible! Let the government come up with a white paper on success and failures of all these programs launched ever since Independence.

Very true ! Every single programe or scheme that was coined by the congress government was fuest of all half baked and never took off so to say because of corruption. Contrary to what most people say about Indira Gandhi being an able leader , in fact she institutionalised corruption in a big way and of course all other politicians regardless of what party they belonged to followed suit ..

@Usha

Here I would share one personal experience involving the ration-shop dealers - a pivot of the Public Distribution System. I was travelling to New Delhi in the same compartment which was packed with ration-shop dealers of West Bengal on their way to attend a so-called conference to be held in the national capital. I was privy to a few interesting pieces of conversations among them. After liberally feeding themselves with choicest of food and drinks at mid night ,they screamed in a united chorus " Duniyer Chor EK Hoy' rendered in English 'All Robbers and Thieves, Unite"!!!!!!!

Well, they said it themselves!! :blink: :blink: Their tribe is the same all over the country! I am not sure whether it is the case in other states but in Maharashtra the students in government schools are provided with midday meals consisting mainly of rice and dal khichdi. There are contractors who win contracts to provide khichadi daily by submitting tenders, a process rift with corruption as we all know and they are given large quantities of rice for cooking. These guys sell that rice meant for poor children and earn profits for themselves. I personally know one such person who sells 100 kilos rice on a daily basis!

Midday meal started in many states by the subsequent governments is really making some people very rich, at least thats what happened in Karnataka where the Lokayukta raided the godown and founs rice meant for the meals being sold to shops and the children given poor quality rice ridden with worms - honestly dont these people have a conscience at all? There is also a Harijan hostel run by the government which is having similar problems, in fact the person looking after is an MLA from the same caste ! A typical case of fence eating the grass !

Someone I know comes from a lower middle class family, but has a steady job earning Rs 9,000 per month. They belong to Scheduled tribe and here is a list of benefits they have got so far !
1, Free site measuring 3 cents (1008 sq ft)
2, Building expenses taken care of to the tune of 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees
3 ,Free electric wiring and all fixtures including bulbs and 2 fans
4, Free Water Supply + a overhead syntex tank
5, Free Gas connection with a single burner stove ( will have to pay for gas cylinders at a subsidised rate)
6, Subsidised Electric charges - Rs 175 per month regardless of how much they consume
7, Rice at Rs 2/ per KG
8, Free schooling for two children with a lump sum of Rs 2000 paid at the beginning of every school year
Then of course the other reservations and all other benefits...

I am not exaggerating ! This is a fact and we the tax payers have to bear the expenses ( directly or indirectly)

India's poverty alleviation programs have miserably failed to make any impact on the lives of the marginalised section of our society mainly because of the delivery mechanisms are in the hands of political sharks. Even late Rajiv Gandhi condemned his own class for gobbling the meat of all these programs. And the scenario has changed very little in this regard. The ambitious Food Security Bill is another instance how political dividends have guided the launch of this dubious exercise. The government by its own admission claims that the proposed bill would take care the food needs of 80% of the populace. This is terrible! Let the government come up with a white paper on success and failures of all these programs launched ever since Independence.

Very true ! Every single programe or scheme that was coined by the congress government was fuest of all half baked and never took off so to say because of corruption. Contrary to what most people say about Indira Gandhi being an able leader , in fact she institutionalised corruption in a big way and of course all other politicians regardless of what party they belonged to followed suit ..

@Usha

Here I would share one personal experience involving the ration-shop dealers - a pivot of the Public Distribution System. I was travelling to New Delhi in the same compartment which was packed with ration-shop dealers of West Bengal on their way to attend a so-called conference to be held in the national capital. I was privy to a few interesting pieces of conversations among them. After liberally feeding themselves with choicest of food and drinks at mid night ,they screamed in a united chorus " Duniyer Chor EK Hoy' rendered in English 'All Robbers and Thieves, Unite"!!!!!!!

Well, they said it themselves!! :blink: :blink: Their tribe is the same all over the country! I am not sure whether it is the case in other states but in Maharashtra the students in government schools are provided with midday meals consisting mainly of rice and dal khichdi. There are contractors who win contracts to provide khichadi daily by submitting tenders, a process rift with corruption as we all know and they are given large quantities of rice for cooking. These guys sell that rice meant for poor children and earn profits for themselves. I personally know one such person who sells 100 kilos rice on a daily basis!

Midday meal started in many states by the subsequent governments is really making some people very rich, at least thats what happened in Karnataka where the Lokayukta raided the godown and founs rice meant for the meals being sold to shops and the children given poor quality rice ridden with worms - honestly dont these people have a conscience at all? There is also a Harijan hostel run by the government which is having similar problems, in fact the person looking after is an MLA from the same caste ! A typical case of fence eating the grass !

Here in Rajasthan situation is some better of mid day meal. Here no provision of contractor to supply mid day meal. All mid day meal is cooking in school and committee of parents doing supervision of it. But I am not denying from some corruption. But situation is some better. Here menu is also fixed for everyday.

Someone I know comes from a lower middle class family, but has a steady job earning Rs 9,000 per month. They belong to Scheduled tribe and here is a list of benefits they have got so far !
1, Free site measuring 3 cents (1008 sq ft)
2, Building expenses taken care of to the tune of 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees
3 ,Free electric wiring and all fixtures including bulbs and 2 fans
4, Free Water Supply + a overhead syntex tank
5, Free Gas connection with a single burner stove ( will have to pay for gas cylinders at a subsidised rate)
6, Subsidised Electric charges - Rs 175 per month regardless of how much they consume
7, Rice at Rs 2/ per KG
8, Free schooling for two children with a lump sum of Rs 2000 paid at the beginning of every school year
Then of course the other reservations and all other benefits...

I am not exaggerating ! This is a fact and we the tax payers have to bear the expenses ( directly or indirectly)

India's poverty alleviation programs have miserably failed to make any impact on the lives of the marginalised section of our society mainly because of the delivery mechanisms are in the hands of political sharks. Even late Rajiv Gandhi condemned his own class for gobbling the meat of all these programs. And the scenario has changed very little in this regard. The ambitious Food Security Bill is another instance how political dividends have guided the launch of this dubious exercise. The government by its own admission claims that the proposed bill would take care the food needs of 80% of the populace. This is terrible! Let the government come up with a white paper on success and failures of all these programs launched ever since Independence.

Very true ! Every single programe or scheme that was coined by the congress government was fuest of all half baked and never took off so to say because of corruption. Contrary to what most people say about Indira Gandhi being an able leader , in fact she institutionalised corruption in a big way and of course all other politicians regardless of what party they belonged to followed suit ..

@Usha

Here I would share one personal experience involving the ration-shop dealers - a pivot of the Public Distribution System. I was travelling to New Delhi in the same compartment which was packed with ration-shop dealers of West Bengal on their way to attend a so-called conference to be held in the national capital. I was privy to a few interesting pieces of conversations among them. After liberally feeding themselves with choicest of food and drinks at mid night ,they screamed in a united chorus " Duniyer Chor EK Hoy' rendered in English 'All Robbers and Thieves, Unite"!!!!!!!

Well, they said it themselves!! :blink: :blink: Their tribe is the same all over the country! I am not sure whether it is the case in other states but in Maharashtra the students in government schools are provided with midday meals consisting mainly of rice and dal khichdi. There are contractors who win contracts to provide khichadi daily by submitting tenders, a process rift with corruption as we all know and they are given large quantities of rice for cooking. These guys sell that rice meant for poor children and earn profits for themselves. I personally know one such person who sells 100 kilos rice on a daily basis!

Someone I know comes from a lower middle class family, but has a steady job earning Rs 9,000 per month. They belong to Scheduled tribe and here is a list of benefits they have got so far !
1, Free site measuring 3 cents (1008 sq ft)
2, Building expenses taken care of to the tune of 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees
3 ,Free electric wiring and all fixtures including bulbs and 2 fans
4, Free Water Supply + a overhead syntex tank
5, Free Gas connection with a single burner stove ( will have to pay for gas cylinders at a subsidised rate)
6, Subsidised Electric charges - Rs 175 per month regardless of how much they consume
7, Rice at Rs 2/ per KG
8, Free schooling for two children with a lump sum of Rs 2000 paid at the beginning of every school year
Then of course the other reservations and all other benefits...

I am not exaggerating ! This is a fact and we the tax payers have to bear the expenses ( directly or indirectly)

India's poverty alleviation programs have miserably failed to make any impact on the lives of the marginalised section of our society mainly because of the delivery mechanisms are in the hands of political sharks. Even late Rajiv Gandhi condemned his own class for gobbling the meat of all these programs. And the scenario has changed very little in this regard. The ambitious Food Security Bill is another instance how political dividends have guided the launch of this dubious exercise. The government by its own admission claims that the proposed bill would take care the food needs of 80% of the populace. This is terrible! Let the government come up with a white paper on success and failures of all these programs launched ever since Independence.

Very true ! Every single programe or scheme that was coined by the congress government was fuest of all half baked and never took off so to say because of corruption. Contrary to what most people say about Indira Gandhi being an able leader , in fact she institutionalised corruption in a big way and of course all other politicians regardless of what party they belonged to followed suit ..

@Usha

Here I would share one personal experience involving the ration-shop dealers - a pivot of the Public Distribution System. I was travelling to New Delhi in the same compartment which was packed with ration-shop dealers of West Bengal on their way to attend a so-called conference to be held in the national capital. I was privy to a few interesting pieces of conversations among them. After liberally feeding themselves with choicest of food and drinks at mid night ,they screamed in a united chorus " Duniyer Chor EK Hoy' rendered in English 'All Robbers and Thieves, Unite"!!!!!!!

Well, they said it themselves!! :blink: :blink: Their tribe is the same all over the country! I am not sure whether it is the case in other states but in Maharashtra the students in government schools are provided with midday meals consisting mainly of rice and dal khichdi. There are contractors who win contracts to provide khichadi daily by submitting tenders, a process rift with corruption as we all know and they are given large quantities of rice for cooking. These guys sell that rice meant for poor children and earn profits for themselves. I personally know one such person who sells 100 kilos rice on a daily basis!

Midday meal started in many states by the subsequent governments is really making some people very rich, at least thats what happened in Karnataka where the Lokayukta raided the godown and founs rice meant for the meals being sold to shops and the children given poor quality rice ridden with worms - honestly dont these people have a conscience at all? There is also a Harijan hostel run by the government which is having similar problems, in fact the person looking after is an MLA from the same caste ! A typical case of fence eating the grass !

Here in Rajasthan situation is some better of mid day meal. Here no provision of contractor to supply mid day meal. All mid day meal is cooking in school and committee of parents doing supervision of it. But I am not denying from some corruption. But situation is some better. Here menu is also fixed for everyday.

Thats really nice ! When parents join in they are bound to take care of the quality ! Corruption has to be there in India without which nothing functions here...