Bill Gates Agenda Of Philanthro-Capitalism

What can be amiss when Maharashtra, among the top three richest states in India, seeks a partnership with one of the world’s largest philanthropy organisations that has been shown to relentlessly pursue an agenda benefitting private corporations? Plenty, but Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would not have paid attention to any of it when he welcomed and interacted with Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in Mumbai. Reports say that Mr Gates expressed a commitment to support some of the women-centric initiatives that have been recently taken, such as the Ladki Bahin Yojana and Lakhpati Didi Yojana, and aid the digitisation of women’s financial transactions by training 10,000 women in AI to ensure inclusivity in the technological revolution.

There are few countries and fewer states or provinces within them that will not lay the red carpet for Mr Gates or accept his largesse with profound gratitude. As the case studies and experiences of the past decade have shown, philanthropic organisations like his, though not the only ones, have exploited the needs and pitiable conditions in countries of Africa and Asia to get a foothold and further business interests. The term for this, now widely used, is philanthro-capitalism. The Gates Foundation is among the top few in the field, with its worldwide budget for 2025 at a staggering US $8.7 billion; India, where it has operated since 2003, has been its second largest area of influence after the US itself, according to reports. Mr Gates has enjoyed a camaraderie with all governments but is widely seen as a cheerleader for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Given all that is now public about his – and his Foundation’s – agenda, India’s Prime Minister and state chief ministers should tread with circumspection, if not complete caution, when it comes to large philanthropic organisations. Why, for instance, is it necessary for the corporation or foundation that Mr Gates presides over to support fintech schemes of the state government? It is fair to ask what the collateral advantages to them might be. It is dystopian to watch the tech-bro community calling the shots in the United States and setting the agenda since president Donald Trump was sworn in; India does not have to play to the tunes of tech-bros, homegrown or international. Surely, Maharashtra, with its Gross Domestic Product of Rs 45.3 lakh crore, approximately US $500 billion plus, can afford to train a few thousand of its women in tech without cavilling or supplicating to powerful men with interests. Let digital financial inclusion not be a cover for further tech businesses.