Every year, the church sets aside a day known as the ‘World Day of the Poor’ to remind us of the great needs of our suffering brothers and sisters and our duty to reach out to them. This year’s message from Pope Francis is a verse taken from the book of Tobit, viz “Do not turn your face from anyone who is poor.”
Accordingly, the preferential option for the poor should be faith-driven and embrace several ways of reaching out to the poor through acts of charity but should always be above any means of being motivated by personal gains or any ideological approach that uses the poor for political gains and mileage. Contrast this with the game plan and politically motivated measures of most political parties these days to reach out to the poor and marginalized through reservations by undertaking caste surveys and ending up with a bonanza of reservations in government-run educational institutions and public sector jobs.
The recent caste census undertaken by the Bihar government in the name of social justice for the backward classes, with reservations up to 75%, says it all, as if no one else matters. This is adequately borne out by the feverish election campaigning and competition in five states to be the champions of the socially and economically backward classes.
