Gandhi once said real relief is to be free from fear. Even today, poor literacy levels, lack of sufficient nutrition, inaccessibility of sanitary facilities plague the poor of India. Many government schemes have been put into action, lack of awareness of such schemes lead to under-utilisation of these measures. Many new trends are coming up. Non-governmental organisations, private companies as part of their ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) programmes are working upon to uplift the standard and quality of life for the poor and disadvantaged groups.