Ethics and Values

Dr. M Rashmi
Department of Social Sciences
VIT University, Vellore

Lecture – 8
Helping the needy

Welcome back to the course on Ethics and Values.

In the previous lecture we dealt with some of the important topics like personal social
responsibility and we also briefly discussed the meaning and the need of corporate social
responsibility. In today’s lecture we have another associated topic for discussion which is
“Helping the needy”. Well, who are these needy people? Can you identify them? What would
you do if they ask for help?

Well, Cambridge English dictionary defines needy as “someone who is in a deprived,

impoverished and disadvantageous state.” In simple words, we can say anybody who is in
insecure and poor state can be called as a needy person. There are lots of literature, let it be
religious, moral, philosophical and social work related articles and books which advocate
compassion towards poor and needy as an essential characteristic of humanity. If we look at
different types of needs of people, we clearly find that these needs can be broadly categorized
as physical, psychological, social and spiritual.

People are not just interested in survival only but they also are in need of love, affection,
autonomy, respect, recognition, and self-actualization and above all, moral and spiritual
development for which they resort to distribution of charity and provision of varied kinds of
help. They are the people who need affection, attention, or reassurance, especially to an
excessive degree. They showcase a tendency to behave in a passive way that may adversely
affect their relationships and quality of life. There are people like Kailash Satyarthi, who was
awarded with Nobel Peace Prize in the year 2014 for his tremendous selfless contribution
towards saving children from child labour. If you have heard about Chipko movement, then
you would be definitely aware of its leader Sunderlal Bahuguna, who spent his life to educate
and persuade villagers to protest against the destruction of forests. You might have also heard
of Sindhutai Sapkal, also known as the “Mother of orphans” who was awarded with
Padmasree in 2021. She is particularly known for raising orphaned children in India.
Similarly, I can give you many examples. There can be many reasons for such people to
come forward and help others in need. It may be out of their natural feeling of altruism,
devotion and dedication to serve the mankind or at least the members of their own society, or
maybe they are doing it because they strongly believe in their ideology, or may be their
objectives and are selflessly dedicated towards achieving them. But by giving these
examples, I would like to stress upon the immense power that each one of us has to make a
good change in the life of at least one individual. It is at that moment when we create a
meaning for our existence.

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Now, let’s have a reflection spot, what is the one word for the voluntary action done to help
those in need? Here are the options

1. Altruism
2. Charity
3. Volunteerism

And the right answer is option 2, charity and that is exactly what we are going to discuss in
our next lecture. Until then, bye and have a nice day!