Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 168 posts

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#101

Post by nkurz »

pbininda wrote: post #95
JetSpiegel wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are comitting a falacy falacy. Just because an argument is fallacious, doesn't mean it is wrong. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fallacy_fallacy

You are committing a fallacy fallacy fallacy. If an argument is fallacious, it definitely is wrong. The proposition supported by that argument might still be right however.

If an argument is fallacious, it definitely is wrong.

F^4: Not necessarily. For example, some would argue that an argument is not necessarily "wrong" if it is logically sound and produces a correct conclusion, even though it is fallacious because unbeknownst to the participants there is both a false premise and countervailing unknown factor. See Gettier Problems: http://www.iep.utm.edu/gettier/.

F^5: The notion that the Gettier problem is a problem is itself a fallacy? "On the Gettier Problem problem" http://www.unc.edu/~ujanel/Gettier.htm

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#102

Post by bobbles »

bllguo wrote: post #58

People snidely - and probably correctly - point out this is done for votes. That just seems overly cynical. Incentive alignment is a good thing - it's the whole basis of capitalism. I don't get why people feel the need to point it out in this manner.

"Yeah yeah you fed all those poor hungry people, but at what cost!"

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#103

Post by devdas »

1024core wrote: post #56
rohit2412 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Monthly salary of a driver is atleast 10k INR ~ 154$, Your friends are eating at a place that costs 2500 INR per head? That's not a decent restaurant meal, that's a lavish restaurant. I would say 200 INR gets you a decent restaurant meal.

I'll counter your anecdata with mine. I usually take Uber in India, and often ask the driver about his work, how much he makes, etc. This is for a North-Indian Tier-2 city. The answer usually is that he makes INR 6000/month. Now, I have eaten in middling restaurants where a meal for 2 came to INR 2500. In fact, I've been to cafes where a "meal" of tea, snacks, etc. alone came to over INR 700/pp. You would be hard pre…

It's not that hard. A meal without alcohol? Easy.

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#104

Post by dguaraglia »

bllguo wrote: post #58

People snidely - and probably correctly - point out this is done for votes. That just seems overly cynical. Incentive alignment is a good thing - it's the whole basis of capitalism. I don't get why people feel the need to point it out in this manner.

It's a common form of entitlement. I have a lot of friends back in Argentina who complained about the previous government "giving stuff to poor people just for votes." It's a reflection of where their priorities are: "I'd never sell my vote for X" is easy to say, when X is easily accessible for you.

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#105

Post by jdietrich »

pm90 wrote: post #66

For those pointing out that this is "Govt. distortion of markets", please see Agricultural subsidies offered in the US and Europe, which "distort" markets a lot more. Personally, I think this is an excellent idea. I really liked the story of the lady who said that her morning had been freed because she did not have to cook breakfast anymore. And for many of those using this place, it would similarly free up their tim…

During the Second World War, Britain had hundreds of subsidised restaurants. They played an essential role in mitigating the worst privations of rationing, providing a nourishing meal for about $2 in today's money. The restaurants were so popular that many remained open until the 1950s.

This policy might be a vote-winner, but it's an honourable vote-winner. Quite aside from the obvious humanitarian justification, investments in nutrition have a tremendous RoI. Malnutrition remains one of the key limiting factors on India's economic growth; a bit of China-style central planning might not be a bad idea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Restaurant

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#106

Post by Karupan »

As good as this initiative sounds, I don't have high hopes of it succeeding in the long run. I have seen how many Amma canteens in Chennai have run into neglect or effectively closed down a mere 3 years after opening. As long as initiatives like these are politicized (which is unfortunately true in most countries), they won't last for a long time. The next political party to come into power will most definitely run it into the ground.

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#107

Post by jdietrich »

praneshp wrote: post #97
snambi wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure... if Indians are malnourished, how come the population keeps growing? It is usually the poor that have many children.

For some of the poor, just like they don't have access to food, they don't have access to contraceptives (or sex education).

As an aside, India's birth rate has been dropping precipitously over the last few decades. In 1960 the birth rate was 5.9 per woman; today it's 2.4 and still falling. India's birth rate is now lower than America prior to 1970. At current trends, the birth rate in India will drop below the replacement rate within a decade.

https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&...

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#108

Post by venturedfleet »

Even though the concept is great It is primarily done to appeal to masses below or just above the poverty line. This is a political agenda by present ruling government (Congress) in the state(Karnataka). It is named after late Ms Indira Gandhi who was president of Congress. Sorry to say India runs behind these votebank politics. Idea is that People will remember this as Congress providing food, even though it is being paid by tax payers money, So those corrupt power hungry monsters can continue to stay in power. The chief Minister who initiated Indira Canteen Karnataka spent 100K $ on his and his family for Tea and Snacks alone in the last 4 years. (https://www.newskarnataka.com/index.php/bangalore/snack-bill...) Now you cant help but question the motive. And It is not the first time, These initiatives have been done in the past in India Eg: in another state called Tamil Nadu. It was called Amma canteen.

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#109

Post by rbanffy »

CamTin wrote: post #94
rbanffy wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> horrible customer service Things like that can easily become the identity of the place.

It's definitely part of the charm. Also motivates you to work on your Polish so you aren't tongue-tied.

I'll check with my Polish neighbors. Seems horrendously hard.

Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents

#110

Post by [deleted] »

pm90 wrote: post #66

For those pointing out that this is "Govt. distortion of markets", please see Agricultural subsidies offered in the US and Europe, which "distort" markets a lot more. Personally, I think this is an excellent idea. I really liked the story of the lady who said that her morning had been freed because she did not have to cook breakfast anymore. And for many of those using this place, it would similarly free up their tim…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN