Negotiating Freebies

SUBSIDIES ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF SOCIAL SECURITY. THE CENTRE AND STATES NEED TO STRIKE THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN MERIT AND NON-MERIT SUBSIDIES.

- Joe C. Mathew

IN JULY, PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi set the cat among the pigeons by stating that the culture of revdi or freebies could be dangerous for India’s development. Today, in our country, attempts are being made to collect votes by distributing free revdis freebies). This revdi culture is very dangerous for the development of the country... People of revdi culture will not build expressways, airports or defence corridors for you,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister’s comments, which came during the launch of the Bundelkhand expressway in U.P., triggered a war of words since luring the voter with grand promises of freebies before elections has been a time-tested strategy of Indian politicians.

The first to react was Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader and Delhi chief minister, who saw it as an attack on his policies of offering free health and education, in addition to free electricity and drinking water, as well as his promises to the voters of Gujarat, the state set to go to polls later this year. We will give freebies. You give your ministers freebies,

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we give to the public,’ Kejriwal had said. His response was enough to provoke finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman into saying that health and education are not considered as freebies” and no government can deny those services to its citizens. Making provisions for freebies without understanding a state's financial status will burden future generations, she said.

Sitharaman’s statement was rebutted by former finance minister of Kerala T.M. Thomas Isaac, who argued that states have been fiscally responsible while the Union government has behaved imprudently. Tamil Nadu finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, too, joined the debate, and said it was the prerogative of the elected government to distribute the money in a manner it deemed fit.