Kindness helps politicians more than the poor.

A country like India, with sleazy politicians, slimy civil servants and brutal police, survives because there are kind people who care for others. The question is: are these people helping to perpetuate a parasitic state by covering up its deficiencies? The Mint carried a short story by Shashi Shekhar about a poor lady, Dorris Francis, who lost a daughter in a traffic accident on the outskirts of Delhi in 2008. Since then she has been directing traffic at the same busy crossing for 4 hours everyday, starting at 7 AM. At first people ignored her but gradually came to respect what she was doing. She developed liver problems, high blood pressure and ovarian cancer. She was admitted at AIIMS in Delhi but her family could not afford the expenses, Rs 2,000 per day, so they took her home. At present she is receiving treatment in a private hospital with donations from the public and Rs 300,000 grant from the Prime Minister's Office. "The question is, why can't institutions such as AIIMS treat the economically underprivileged," asks Shekhar. Dangerous question. AIIMS is not a charitable institution. It was set up as a center for excellence in medical sciences, to conduct research and to teach. When it was set up in 1956 no one could foresee that the population of India would reach 1.3 billion and it would have to handle 10,000 patients everyday, over 300,000 a year. Cancer treatment can cost in excess of Rs 2 million. Clearly no government can provide free treatment to everyone with cancer. Politicians can get treated abroad on taxpayer money, as well as civil servants. Now soldiers are asking why they are denied treatment abroad when they are risking their lives for the nation. A video has emerged on social media showing a Nigerian woman praying that all politicians who sought treatment outside the country should die. Politicians seek to justify their extravagance by making a show of helping the poor. It costs them nothing, being poorly educated the poor are easy to con and they constitute the 'vote bank'. What about the middle class who pay taxes and may get bankrupted by the cost of cancer treatment? Medical insurance is usually too little to cover such expensive treatment and you must know someone to get a bed in a government hospital. If India does not help "the downtrodden" then "how can India live up to its reputation as a welfare state," asks Shekhar. Welfare is only for politicians and civil servants and we are all downtrodden. He cites examples of an acid attack victim and transgender activist as "downtrodden". Acid attack is a heinous crime and the victim deserves any help we can provide. Transgender is voluntary and the person is definitely not a victim. Kindness is good but confusion only helps the villains. Logical thinking is vital if we are to help the vulnerable. Else, we suffer.