Addressing the 20th foundation day of Bandhan Bank, the non-profit-turned-MFI-turned-small finance bank, on Sunday, Banerjee said there is no data and no empirical evidence anywhere to

establish the ideology that getting freebies or getting free assets make the poor people lazy. “This ideology has been pushing successive governments to give less to the poor so that they

don't become lazy. But we have seen no evidence to this effect anywhere, not even in India, instead we have seen everywhere improvements,” he said.