"Daan karna hai"

I hope Monika Halan ( Last Note, Outlook Money, 15 March, 2008 ) won't mind if I quote her.
" The door bell rings. It is Radheysham, the Society guard, at 7 in the morning. He asks for 100 bucks. Why ? I asked incredulously. "Daan karna hai", he drawls, shifting his tobacco in his mouth.
Here is a guy asking me to pay for charity he wants to do to earn brownie points with his deity. Sounds bizarre ? Not if you are the Govt of India, looking at elections this year and have a Finance Minister adept at hiding the spots .....
The doles are : 40 million farmers will get Rs. 60000 Crore of their loans waived off. ......... Make no mistake, we will all pay ultimately for this borrowing......
The cynically political budget has given the poor man the fish to eat rather than become an opportunity to teach him how to fish. ..........

""

Now, let me quote Mohit Satyanand ( Be on your guard this year, Outlook Money, 15 March, 2008 )

" Much of the FM's speech was devoted to the agricultural sector, and he doled out large chunks of cash ( ours, I guess) to forgive Agricultural loans. If it makes him feel like Mother Teresa, doling out relief and succour to the suffering masses, so be it. .... this does nothing to tackle the structural problems of Indian agriculture. ..... Indian agriculture will remain plagued , and just as the 'loan melas' of yester year predictably led to loan waivers, we will see more frequent and more magnanimous gestures to Indian farmers which are unproductive, at best. .........
"
Did you get the message ? Loan waivers are certainly not the way to help the poor.