You would be surprised to know, that a majority of the starving people in India are farmers or daily wage laborers doing construction work. The problem is not that people aren't working. It's that their profession doesn't pay enough be able to buy food at the market rates. It's a problem of economic disparity. Food prices fluctuate with the stock market and oil prices, while the poor who have nothing to do with that suddenly have so much lesser purchasing power. While a software developer on the other hand can easily absorb the impact and live without any change in his consumption.