Sunday, October 23, 2005
No Such Thing as a Free Lunch?
Amit Varma points to an interesting paragraph in a report about a recent visit to Andhra Pradesh by Rahul Gandhi.
Perhaps there is hope after all? Everyone knows Rahul Gandhi will become PM in the next couple of election cycles. And this is not the first time I have heard the chap talk sense. Even his candid remarks about the disastrous state of governance in UP and Bihar offer some proof that he has some very clear and firm views about politics in India. And so far, everything he's been quoted as saying is eminently sensible. Let's see if he can keep this going after he becomes general secretary of the Congress. Watch this space.
Rahul [Gandhi] visited two villages in Ranga Reddy district to see for himself how the micro-finance scheme of an NGO — Swayam Krushi Samstha — was working.
...
The first-hand experience of how small loans can change the lives of the poor and the disadvantaged had strengthened his opposition to subsidies and freebies, Rahul said. “If they are able-bodied and healthy, there should be no free lunch at all. It is bad to give anything as dole.”
Perhaps there is hope after all? Everyone knows Rahul Gandhi will become PM in the next couple of election cycles. And this is not the first time I have heard the chap talk sense. Even his candid remarks about the disastrous state of governance in UP and Bihar offer some proof that he has some very clear and firm views about politics in India. And so far, everything he's been quoted as saying is eminently sensible. Let's see if he can keep this going after he becomes general secretary of the Congress. Watch this space.
