DC Edit| SC’s harsh view on freebies has merit, but problem deeper

Should you give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, or teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, as per the Chinese proverb. The Ladki Bahin scheme of the Maharashtra government, which the judge mentioned, offers Rs 1,500 a month to women aged between 21 and 65 years with an annual family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakhs. The primary inference one can draw from the anguish expressed by the judge and the L&T CEO is that those who ensured a steady supply of cheap labour have ceased to do what they have been doing for generations and instead chose to stay back home, tending their families as the government sops kept the home fire burning. They must now think on the ways to incentivise human labour and make them come back to work instead of lamenting a bygone era of mindless exploitation. The very same corporate boss who aired this view had recently wondered why people cannot work 90 hours a week, which would translate into 15 hours a day in a six-day week and 18 hours a day in a five-day week.