The dark side of charity

Charity is what the elite give back to the society, it is the rich helping the poor. But in many cases, at least in India,  charity might take an entirely different meaning. This thought first came to my mind when I started thinking about the free food provision for the poor near my house. Everyday as I walked towards my bus stop, a marathi family would get food filled in buckets and distribute it among the beggars. Apparently the beggars there knew about this. So everyday precisely at that time they would assemble at that location waiting for food. Initially I felt very good about it. I felt good that were people who actually cared for the poor. But when I inquired I found out that they were doing it because a BABA had advised them that if they donated food to the poor for a month, they would be blessed with wealth and prosperity. The goodwill image that was created in my mind had shattered to say the least. It was then that I realised that 7/10 times the reason behind charity is selfish. It is in hope of own good fortune that people do charity. So what if there were no poor, what then? Whom would the donations be made to. How would we please the gods by convincing them that we are generous people who care for the less fortunate. So this implies that there have to be poor people whom we can make donations to. The correct and ideal equation would be that people donate because there are less fortunate people than them but I am afraid that in the present times this equation has taken a total U-turn. Now people require poor people to exist because they want to make donation.
So here's the question in the current context is charity a selfless act of giving to the society or is it just an other way to try and achieve our selfish aims.