Kofi Annan advises India not to indulge in too many subsidies

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that India should not indulge into too many populist subsidies.

Speaking to CNN IBN’s Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose, Annan said that India should be cautious on subsidizing on food and water.

“I often say that there are two things in the world, once granted, it is extremely difficult to withdraw – subsidies and privileges.”

“Ideally, food subsidies of that kind should not be indefinite. One should be able to help poor people out difficult conditions and poverty but eventually create conditions that allow them to be able to manage on their own,” he said.

“One should not create a situation where people do not value it. Some of the people who do social work may go into a village, and here I am talking about the other parts of the world where they may make water available and they would charge the villagers even if it is one cent to convey the sense of value,” he added.

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