THIS TRAIN DOESN’T REQUIRE A TICKET TO TRAVEL!

 THIS TRAIN DOESN’T REQUIRE A TICKET TO TRAVEL!

The Crazy Race for Freebies in Indian Politics

Watch the Coming Delhi Assembly Election for the Trending ‘Revdies’ in the New Avatar

The once high-decibel political debate on freebies of late has had a quiet death. In the recent past, high-stakes assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Haryana, and Maharastra saw the mainstreaming of pounding freebies as political parties competed with each other in making a slew of promises in their manifestos—from free electricity and free bus travel for women to cash benefits, subsidized gas cylinders and what not. The BJP, which till last year criticized freebies as ‘revdies’ and taunted opposition parties for desperately offering them, joined the bandwagon recently with gusto. It either matched or bettered Congress’s offers in these elections.

And now, with the Delhi assembly election hardly a week away, the prospect of further showering freebies in Indian politics has been registering its obnoxious footprint, keeping the momentum of expanding and expanding very fast. Freebies-frenzy Indian politics are grappling with scores of electoral promises voiced by the major contenders, the BJP, Congress, and the ruling AAP, maneuvering in the high-profile electoral fight.

Historically, Indian politics, since independence, is characterized by the government of the day promising freebies to various categories of its voters. It is enshrined in the Constitution when the provisions for reservations to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were graciously included by the Constituent Assembly, keeping a particular class of voters in the kitty.

The reservation was initially designed for government jobs during selection/appointment. Later, the canopy was expanded, almost regularly, to promotions, education, allotment of government houses, etc. Reservation, outwardly a preferential treatment to target categories, is also, a type of freebie from the government where it pursues its accommodative regime of things, lowers its general standard requirements for a job, etc., and accepts a lower ranking person for the same set of benefits like salary, etc. to all its employees.

In the last decade, freebies have been trending in several other areas like the MNREGA scheme, widely touted as a rural employment scheme, the Right to Education (RTE), and Food Security aiming for minimum food for the poor.

Such an approach has been adopted uniformly by all political parties. While the above three were extended by the Congress, aka the UPA dispensation, the BJP is also not likely to remain lagging and may be compelled by competitive politics, when it introduced Prime Minister Kisan Samman Yojana, just before the 2024 parliamentary elections. The scheme extends the payment of Rs 6,000/- to small and marginal farmers, recently expanded to cover all farmers, including the rich ones, with 10% reservation to the entire population, based on economic criteria. Congress tried to match it with its Nyay scheme of offering Rs 6,000/- per month, based on some vague income criteria.

This phenomenon of freebie syndrome, over the last 79 years in India, has turned the nation’s population into lethargy and deep slumber, devoid of entrepreneurial minds, where everyone, at the slightest sign of distress, starts demanding some kind of freebies from the incumbent Government. This is psychology, peculiarly akin to the citizens of Venezuela in the past, driving any section of the population expect and the government promptly responds when immediate monetary relief or compensation is announced for people suffering due to flood, drought, train accident, landslide, rape victims, etc.

In India, every citizen has curiously carried a divine right to produce any number of children, and the Government has the unlimited duty and responsibility to feed, educate, and provide education, health care, and employment to each of the children. Here, employment means only government jobs, while the sole responsibility for bringing the population to this pass lies with the power and position-hungry politicians.

While political parties have tasted the sweet success that freebies bring, the economic question of their impact on state finances lingers. “It is estimated that the current state expenditure on freebies ranges between 0.1% and 2.7% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), with less developed states incurring higher amounts, although they have lower affording capacity,” said Ajay Dua, former secretary in the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Several economists, former election commissioners, and civil servants say it is difficult to calculate the precise economic impact as there is no unanimity on the definition of freebies. The Supreme Court of India is currently hearing sets of petitions challenging the pre-election promise of freebies that dole out benefits to capture vote banks.

Good and bad benefits

“The freebie culture is not a road to prosperity. It is a passport to fiscal disaster,” says NK Singh, chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, adding that a freebie is not a substitute to enhance economic growth and will, therefore, turn out to be quite expensive in the long run.

Whether a particular scheme is a good freebie or a bad freebie is still debatable. Doling out freebies is questioned mainly on two grounds. One, taxpayers’ money is spent for political gains. Two, freebies may exacerbate the financial health of states that are already under unbearable pressure due to high revenue deficits. The states will then have to borrow for expenditures like salaries and pensions that do not create assets.

According to a report by PRS Legislative Research titled “State of State Finances”, released on October 11 Indian states are estimated to have incurred a revenue deficit in 2023-24. Of these, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Haryana have relatively higher deficits. Electricity subsidy is the most unproductive and distortionary one. It depletes the groundwater and bleeds the power distribution companies. Further, the decision of a few states to revert to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) may worsen their fiscal burden.

Pronab Sen, economist and former chief statistician of India, says the financial landscape of some states would have been more damaging had political parties implemented every promise they had made when they came to power. “The actual impact of freebies on the Indian economy is still limited because some promises remain unfulfilled,” he says, adding that legacy subsidies are the real problem. “At times, voters don’t mind if a promise is not fully implemented. But once a freebie is given, no political party will dare to withdraw it, fearing a backlash,” he adds.

By Prof. (Dr.) Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya

(The writer is a Hyderabad-based distinguished freelance author, journo, speaker, leadership coach, and Emeritus Professor of Management Studies)

VIEWS ARE PERSONAL