The Sunday morning prime time show, which aimed to raise India’s social consciousness, asks people to support the NGOs working for the various causes featured in the show. Indian are watching but not opening their fists

While advertisers may complain about TRPs and high costs, Satyamev Jayate has certainly been a small boon to NGOs who have been featured on the show. However, it once again exposes how Indians are unwilling to donate to charity. They want to gawk but not give.

A show that reached out to a massive 40 crore Indians over just five episodes, has collected a paltry Rs1.7 crore for seven NGOs so far. And half of this, or Rs85.25 lakh has come from Reliance Foundation which offered to match the sum raised through direct donations and text messages sent out by viewers during and after the show. 

So in terms of making Indians ‘give’, Satyamev Jayate is a big flop, but that is the tragic truth about Indians and their current attitudes and no reflection on the show itself. 

The not-for-profits who are striving to help people are certainly not complaining. For them it is a lovely, one-time gift form Aamir Khan Productions, Star TV and all its associates. But, look closer and the number confirm the perception that Indians don’t really believe in supporting and donating to social causes, despite rapidly rising prosperity. And this fact, is the biggest stumbling block to social change and powerful civil society initiatives. 

Now lets look at the numbers. There were 13 NGOs on the list, but according to information we have received from Reliance Foundation, donations from them have gone only to seven. It is not clear if the others drew a blank. The Star TV spokesperson said that the show has not released any numbers as yet, but promised to revert. The NGOs listed on www.satyamevjayate.in are Unique Home for Girls, Snehalaya, Amarjyoti School, Family of Disabled, Himmat, Childline, Jagori, Safai karmachari Andolan, Humanity Hospital Trust, Muktangan, Kheti Viraasat Mission, Punjab Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad Azad Foundation. 

Those who have received money so far are – Snehalaya, Childline, Unique Home for Girls, Humanity Hospital Trust, Himmat, Amarjyoti School and Family of Disabled. Snehalaya had the advantage of being featured in the first show which took social media by storm and was trending for two days. But the donations by millions of Indians who watch this giant show which aired simultaneously on Star and Doordarshan was apparently only Rs31 lakhs. Reliance Foundation matched it with another Rs31 lakhs, which makes it Rs 62 lakhs. 

Remember, Snehalaya had the advantage of featuring on the first show; the contributions/ donations seem to taper off after that. Childline received Rs10.39 lakhs (double it up for Reliance’s contribution), Unique Home for Girls (Rs7.4 lakhs), Humanity Hospital Trust (Rs8.11 lakhs), Himmat (Rs14 lakhs), Amarjyoti School (Rs 6.34 lakhs) and Family of Disabled (Rs7.34 lakhs). 

While all this is a sad reflection on the ‘giving’ of Indians, it is turning out to be a great bet for Reliance Foundation, which has got enormous mileage and promotional space virtually for a song. Remember, Satyamev Jayate’s title sponsor Bharti Airtel has forked out nearly  Rs17-20 crore for the presenting sponsor slot, while associate sponsors Axis Bank, Reckitt Benckiser, Skoda, Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson have apparently paid Rs6-7 crore each for the 13-week show. Star TV also charges a hefty Rs8-10 lakh per 10 seconds for spot rates for Satyamev Jayate while spot rates for KBC were Rs 3.5-4 lakh per 10 seconds, reports The Economic Times. The newspaper says that advertisers are chafing at the high ad rates since TRPs haven’t matched up to expectation. As against this, Reliance Foundation has so far contributed Rs85 lakhs over five episodes and has gained huge exposure during the show. It’s a bet that paid off. 

We must say that the pathetic donations or  “giving” by Indians has come as big shock. Donations to the School of Disabled, Amarjyoti and Unique Home for Girls is stunningly poor. It is no wonder that Star TV is embarrassed to release donation figures. In fact, the terms of the donation say that Star India was “to announce the exact total amount of donation received per week on subsequent Friday through the show 'Asar' on Aaj Tak Channel every Friday at 8:30 pm during the Campaign Period”.  But there are hardly numbers that one would want to broadcast. 

The first episode of Satyamev Jayate caused such a flutter on social media that one expected the smartphones to be zapping text messages every second. Instead, it appears that people were only tweeting, not texting for a cause. If Satyamev Jayate hasn’t been the gamechanger for social change that we had expected, it is we the people who have failed.