Charity, when used for publicity, is not really charity. It’s just a different sort of payment for a photo-op. The intentions in cases like this, are often questionable, no matter the person involved. In this light, it’s hard to not find fault with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday bash.
Rumour has it that Modi’s birthday will involve a host of charitable endeavours, but all of them with a view to breaking Guinness records. There will be around 17,000 kits distributed to over 11,000 differently abled people. The kits will contain assistive aids and appliances. There will also be 1000 people on wheelchairs forming a logo, the previous record was set in the US by 346 wheelchair bound participants. Another record that will be broken is one set in Australia, where 500 people received hearing aids. In India, that number will be 1000.
So what does this have to do with Narendra Modi’s birthday? Apart from it becoming a publicity stunt and getting media coverage, it will surely empower many differently abled people. But why do this with such fanfare. Charity shouldn’t be done for headlines, it should done to help people and that ends there. Anything else is just a boost to one’s ego.
