Letters to BS: Power subsidy is not populism, they are to bridge inequality

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee has argued in favour of putting money in the hands of those having Jan Dhan accounts.

This refers to the editorial “Power Populism” (February 13). This has been written in the context of power subsidies being given in Delhi and in West Bengal. I do not agree that giving power subsidy is populism. All subsidies are not economically undesirable. All countries, even the developed ones, give it. In England, orphan children or those who have lost one parent, are given subsidy to sustain themselves. They give social security benefits in different forms. In all countries, subsidies are being given to bridge inequality. Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee has argued in favour of putting money in the hands