Poverty is expensive, very expensive.
It is not just direct expenses on Public Distribution System (PDS), MNREGA, government subsidies or freebies,
but also its impact on education (where masses are not able to afford quality education for their kids), unaffordable health-care, lower economic consumption of goods and services in general; and most importantly on law and order, and citizen safety.
Metrics like GDP or GDP per capita are useful but they do not truly reflect prosperity.
With heavy AI, robotics and automation, if a large corporation produces a lot, it does increase GDP and hence GDP per capita, but are people really getting richer and prosperous?
In fact, adoption of technology, automation and productivity gains leading to layoffs can improve GDP but simultaneously can lead to shrinking middle class.
Instead, we believe that upward economic mobility is the right way to measure prosperity.
Is middle class getting richer? If India's' middle class was 500 million (50 Cr) strong in 2020, has it grown to 60 Cr by 2026? How many lower middle class people have entered middle class?
How many poor people have entered lower middle class?
We believe the best way to eradicate poverty is by creating jobs.
While direct help to poor people can be temporarily useful, we need to make sure poor people do not become dependent on this help. We need to help them become independent. Do not offer money or goods, instead offer them jobs - so they can live with dignity. Encouraging entrepreneurship to create jobs is our way out.
Start companies that can work on solving India's gigantic problems, generating employment in the process.
The purpose of any business/company or enterprise is to solve a social problem. India's gigantic problems means companies can continue to scale and can continue to employ more and more people while solving these problems.
For example, one of our group companies PushthiVardhan Foods Pvt. Ltd. is working on solving Food Adulteration problem. Our other group companies are focusing on technology, artifical intelligence, affordable housing and affordable healthcare - generating employment in the process.