FREE FREE FREE!!!

If one political Outfit is willing to cook Food for the Electorate, another one is ready to cook and feed Them

The elections are around the corner. Leaders have started criticizing each other for their incompetency. Many are hooping parties for their personal gains. Nothing new, right? You know what, there’s one more thing that is common during the election season: the #freebie culture.

This election season has produced an amazing range of freebie promises that have honestly set new highs. Leaders are quite adroit declaring these freebies. Aam Aadmi Party(#AAP) has promised to transfer Rs 1,000 per month into the accounts of every woman, 300 units of free electricity per month for every household, 80% jobs reserved for locals, government job for an unemployed person in every family and an unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month for every unemployed person. #BJP has announced free rations for those below the poverty line and Antodaya card holders and Rs 1,000 a month to daily wage earners. #Congress has promised free rides for women, Rs 2,000 per month, 8 free cooking cylinders per year. Samajwadi party has also announced 300 units free electricity to households and also free electricity for irrigation purposes. #election

The list goes on and on and on and maybe I have missed a few of these promises but honestly this is insane. I am dumbfounded by each and every political party trying to woo the electorate by these behemoth distributions and far out promises. They have set out to make promises without a sense of responsibility as to whether it will at all be feasible to deliver on even some of them. Madras High Court, in a sarcastic remark, once said if one political party is willing to cook food for the electorate, another one is ready to cook and feed them. Looking at the attitude of these political parties, it seems to be – if we lose, we don’t have the authority to deliver, but if we win then we shall cross the bridge when we get to it. This is a very consternating behaviour on the behalf of our politicians.

The sorrow and anguish of the poor in India cannot be resolved by these freebies. As far as farmers are concerned, free electricity, free water supply, loan wavier, MSP, and other incentives are not a sustainable solution. Historical events are proof of this. All these incentives have been offered for quite a number of years now. And even after that we have not witnessed any noticeable outcome. Farmers are still under debt, suicidal rates are still high, and incomes are not augmenting at an adequate rate. Ironically, even after all these incentives; agriculture is still marked with low Productivity. Rice Productivity in India is 4 tons per hectare while in China it is 7 tons per hectare. These freebies have also hampered the innovation and the adaptability of new technologies.

Freebie is a Recipe of Mayhem, not Progress

Irrespective of who comes to power, there will definitely be a resource crisis as the different state governments get down to delivering on at least some of the preposterous promises, in order to retain some credibility. For example, take the case of an election bound state – Punjab. One political party has announced to give Rs 1,000 per month to every woman of Punjab. By one estimate, it will cost the state exchequer Rs 12,000 crore annually. Another political outfit has implemented free bus rides for women. If this is the case, estimates suggest that the operational cost for running the state bus transportation service will cost the government of Punjab Rs 1.5 crore daily. So, in order to run the services profitably, the state needs to have revenue of more than Rs 1.5 crore every day. But you know what, after this free distribution scheme, daily revenue has declined to Rs70 – 80L per day, way lower than the operational cost. One needs to ask rationally – Does every woman require Rs 1,000? Does every woman require a free transit service? #Punjab

One should fathom that by giving freebies, a class of society is being created who are and will remain dependent for the rest of their lives on the state for their “rozi roti”. Politicians distributing modicum of freebies will eventually lead to gifting huge quantities in the long run. States’ finances are already in abysmal shape due Covid 19. And these absurd schemes are just adding nails to the coffin of the state and nation at large. #Covid

Let’s say for a moment that all these schemes are beneficial for society. It will reduce the burden on the middle class since they’ll get free electricity and free water. And by doing this the standard of living will increase since people will have more money to spare. Agree?

Now look at the other side of the story. The state providing these freebies will have to bear the cost. And how will they bear that cost? From where will they get the money to run the facilities and pay their employees? It's simple logic. The state will augment the taxes on certain commodities like petrol, diesel, alcohol or raise the tax slabs or even electricity rates in some cases. And when these rates are too high and become unaffordable, like petrol crossing Rs 100 mark or getting Rs 8 unit per electricity, then too there’s a conundrum. This affects the whole system like teachers not getting their salaries on time, several infrastructure projects being delayed or halted. Just 7.2 crore Indians pay taxes. Even after this low ratio, as compared to the whole population of 140 crore, if people expect the governments to do wonders, then they all are daydreaming. It’s like wanting state-of-the-art infrastructure, 24-hour water and electricity supply and God knows what not but at the same time doesn’t want to shed a single penny. This doesn’t fit the equation. #money

CONCLUSION – There are numerous counter opinions. Like even after paying taxes nothing is happening. There’s a lot of corruption, money given in the form of taxes is going into the pockets of these so-called politicians. Yes, all these are valid questions. These questions need to be addressed. The point is these incoherent distribution schemes will not benefit neither the state nor the electorate in the long run. But I must say that the electorate is nobody’s fool. It will take all the freebies already being distributed and then vote according to its carefully thought-out assessment of performance.