Thursday, October 16, 2025
HomeUncategorizedWhy Philanthropy or Charity not spontaneous in India ?

Why Philanthropy or Charity not spontaneous in India ?

Charity means giving something to those in needs without expectation or wanting something back in return. This act has been put in high esteem in almost all religions starting from Hindu, Christian, Muslims, Zoroastrian, etc..  The driving force behind a charitable instinct is his religious ethos.

 “In  Parsi, thy name is charity”

“Giving charity out of devotion, always maintain the moral precepts, find delight in meditation, and you will attain the celestial life.”(Budha)

“Charity is held up in the New Testament (I Corinthians 13) as the greatest of the three Christian virtues, with Faith and Hope.”

“And be steadfast in prayer and regular in charity: And whatever good ye send forth for your souls before you, ye shall find it with Allah” (Qur’an 2:110)

From a religious point of view, all religions consider poverty, suffering and want as an affliction of evil. To remove poverty, disease and suffering is not only a religious duty, but an act of spiritual merit, depriving “evil” of sustenance.

Now question is, if charity is the teaching of all religions why it is not spontaneous among people in our country? Why people turn their face when there are disasters, tragedies, calamities, catastrophes, devastations, ruins, etc.? In my understanding, It may be for two reasons: either people do not take religious/spiritual teachings seriously or   People do not have faith or trust on the charitable institutions. Or both together. Of late our education system does not  have the arm of spiritual learnings in their course curriculum. We are only concentrating on knowledge learning ignoring other facets of learning.

Second reason is also responsible for apathy in charity. There is a common notion that all charitable NGOs are corrupt and fraud. This notion is also gaining its strength day by day. In other hand NGOs feel that those who are voluntarily coming forward for donation are having unauthorised income or black money. I shall share my experience in this matter: I started giving a book grant to needy students of higher secondary during 1980s from my little heard-earned money. After few years, I could realize that school is taking extra money in the name of book grant by certifying the books that are not necessary for the class. I was disappointed so much that I stopped the donation. Next when I started sponsoring children for their education through a NGO, my partner started doubting on the NGO and often questioning me about their credibility. She was right in her way because, we are not rich enough nor we had extra income.  Somehow I continued but my recent one experience shattered my faith and trust. There was unprecedented flood in Kerala during July-August, 2018. I was emotionally disturbed by seeing the misery of the people and immediately responded to the call of the Chief Minister for donation in CM’s relief fund. After that I requested for a receipt and what happened next is before you as follows:

From: chiefminister@kerala.gov.in <chiefminister@kerala.gov.in> on behalf of ChiefMinister, Government of Kerala <chiefminister@kerala.gov.in>
Sent: 19 August 2018 13:07
To: Satyabrata Maiti
Subject: Re: Donation sent by PhonePe App

My sincere thanks for your kindness in offering a helping hand towards the people who are in distress due to the torrential rain and flood in our state. Your contribution surely will be a great support for the government’s endeavour. I once again thank you.
Finance Department will provide the receipt for your contribution.

PINARAYI VIJAYAN
CHIEF MINISTER

From: chiefminister@kerala.gov.in <chiefminister@kerala.gov.in> on behalf of Chief Minister, Government of Kerala <chiefminister@kerala.gov.in>
Sent: 12 September 2018 12:26
To: Satyabrata Maiti
Subject: Re: Donation sent by PhonePe App

finance department is taking all the effort to provide receipts for the payment.Kindly wait.

ROBERT FRANCIS
DEPUTY SECRETARY
Chief Minister’s Computer Cell
2336689, 2517230

NOTE: I have written to them again but no response yet.

In spite of my repeated requests I am yet to receive the receipt. What it shows? It shows that Govt. is callus and does not have the sincerity towards the donors. They are only interested in collecting money. It is now obvious that where is the guaranty that my money will be properly utilized?  This will be a demotivating factor in my mind for considering in giving  future donations. Perhaps, this is the root cause of apathy towards donation by the people.

I wish that the NGOs or Govt. whoever is collecting money from the public must do their best to insure that each rupee collected will be utilized for the purpose it is given and they must also be transparent in display their account in public dominie (amount collected and amount spent).  Let us demand this transparency together before these organizations to revive the the spirit of charity and spontaneous donations at the hour of distress.

Jai Hind!

6040cookie-checkWhy Philanthropy or Charity not spontaneous in India ?
Satyabrata Maiti
Satyabrata Maitihttps://test.biotriktest.online
I have served Indian Council of Agricultural Research in various capacities. Photography is my hobby and also taught photography to scientists and students of universities. My hobby started at my 12 years of age with Kodak box camera. My interest in photography are people, nature, wild life and surroundings.
RELATED ARTICLES

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular

Recent Comments