Freebie Politics in India
- Mohamed Aman
- Jul 27, 2021
- 4 min read
India, the largest democracy in the world, is a prime ministerial-based democracy, with power divided between the Central and State governments . Greed for money, power, corruption, communal polarisation, and lack of education are some of the major issues that our political culture is currently facing. Moreover, Indian political parties have developed a habit of providing freebies to voters to garner their support and allegiance - especially from the economically weaker sections of the country's society.
Although this is heavily criticised by both the people and the judiciary, it prevails in our society, with parties in power handing out free goods and services to its citizens in the name of economic policy. Some of these freebies have become immensely useful for politicians as a marketing tool, if and when they boom in popularity amongst the people. On the contrary, the provision of freebies is not a good practice. There always needs to be a source of money; in this case, shameless hands grab at the treasury of the state's tax revenue. People often fail to realize that it is their own tax money that is spent on handouts. Eventually, the people start to expect more from the government, leaving a lesser share of tax to be spent on public utility. Such short-term freebies accomplish a single, twisted objective - popularize the political party while draining the State treasury.
Freebies aren’t always effective, as this practice results in biasing the choices of the average voter. There is no fixed answer to the question, “Is it of help to the weaker sectors?”. In some states such as Tamil Nadu, these freebies have turned out to be highly effective, as seen by the improved literacy rate in the state. In various other states, however, corrupt practices and middlemen utilize public funds for personal benefits, depriving the populace of their fair share.
The Madras High Court greatly criticizes the use of "free" commodities, as does the Supreme Court! Freebies tend to make the citizens lazy by reducing their will to work, thereby taking away the burden of responsibility. Political parties offering free food and other free facilities only make the people more dependent on both the party and the government, skewing with the unbiased field of play.
The AAP party in Delhi offers "free" rides for women in metro trains and buses, "free" electricity for people who use up to 200 units, "waiver" of arrears in water bills, and extension of "free" entrance coaching to all students whose annual family income is less than eight lakh rupees. The current Government of Tamil Nadu offers "free" intracity bus rides for women. Several other political parties have added many freebies to their election manifesto. For instance, in the recent elections in Telangana, calls were made to people to provide them a pick and drop facility along with food facility on the election day if they voted for the particular party. Another example would be Rajasthan’s CM Vasundhara Raje’s promise to provide subsidised smartphones to 10 million poor people in the state with free data for the first six months. Similarly, Shivraj Singh Chouhan offered a smartphone to every student that joins a government college.
All the above schemes and promises only lure an increasing number of votes towards the specific party that implemented it, thus minimizing the risk of losing in the forthcoming elections. This affects poorly informed voters the most, as they are blinded by such offers and are unable to judge based solely on merit and history. Over the years, political parties have been promoting the freebie culture in name of welfare schemes. These election goodies have taken centre stage in the election process, and some voters make biased decisions based on account of greater benefits offered rather than the tangible capability of the leader. While having an effect on the mindset of the population, these practices degrade the importance of the election process as well.
On the contrary, a few states have partly benefited the people by use of such free governmental services. The mid-day meal scheme, introduced by the then-CM of Tamilnadu - K. Kamaraj - promoted public schools to students by provision of free meals everyday. This eradicated the main reason for illiteracy among poor people - that they would rather work to earn the day’s meal than take up basic studies. The introduction of mid-day meal scheme put an end the hunger of poor people and gave them the necessary education. This, in turn, helped to build more schools in the state, increasing literacy levels within Tamilnadu.
Freebies and social welfare are linked to the socio-economic development of the state they are implemented in. A recent survey has concluded that the lower rates of poverty in states like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu are a direct effect of planned implementation of social schemes in these states.
A Personal Note -
Regardless of the intentions behind the practice of issuing freebies, I believe it is a pretty good policy which could promote growth rather than stall it, given that it is properly implemented. Taking Tamil Nadu as a precedent, freebies strategically aimed at improving literacy rates and the demographic dividend will definitely be worth the government’s resources.
If implemented effectively, the long-term benefits (higher literacy rate, socio-economic development, etc. ) would certainly outweigh the short-term expenses. Hence, the question of whether or not freebies in Indian politics are good or bad essentially comes down to how effectively policies are implemented by the government.
By Mohamed Aman
Editor: Vikram Venkat
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