MGP meeting discusses guarantee schemes, their implication on State finances
Mysore/Mysuru: The five guarantee schemes with which the Congress has come to power is the talk of the town now as the schemes are set to make a significant dent in the State finances. While a section of people is terming the guarantees as an integral part of ‘freebie culture’ to influence voters, others are debating the same as economic empowerment.
These were some of the opinions aired by retired Economics Professor of JSS College Prof. Chintamani at the monthly meeting of Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) on Sunday. Distributing freebies has been an indispensable part of India’s electoral politics since 1972. Freebies have marked a divide across the political spectrum, with people involved in this discourse of branding freebies as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Ironically, there is no consensus, he said.
No doubt, implementing the freebies and the guarantees will drain the finances of the State and they will hurt the interests of many while it will benefit a section of the society. “But we will have to bear the consequences for some time,” Prof. Chintamani said.
Guarantees are reminders of how essential it is to draw differentiating lines between freebies and welfare schemes. We can’t dismiss legitimate welfare programmes as freebies. “Distinguishing between freebies and essential services will require the proper context of time, place and the government’s fiscal space,” he opined.
Though the Indian Constitution says the State should promote the welfare of people Below the Poverty Line or who cannot progress without support, the election manifestos of political parties often do not honour such distinctions.
“Instead of achieving long-term development goals through the public distribution system, employment guarantee schemes and State support for education and health facilities, freebies and handouts serve as an easy shortcut to woo voters and conceal the failures of the political class,” Prof. Chintamani observed.
Other speakers highlighted the economic implications of freebie politics, which poses a tremendous fiscal threat to the State Government. The budget for guarantees is eating up a major share of the regular budget, thus disturbing the level playing field and shaking the roots of free and fair elections, they observed.
Participants of the meeting felt that the impact of freebies should not be looked at from a political lens but should be understood from an economic perspective. “We must differentiate between freebies and targeted social sector expenditure. The need of the hour is to ensure that the beneficiaries are empowered permanently to forgo such benefits and denounce the freebie culture, the participants felt.
Retired Professor and Historian Prof. N.S. Rangaraju, MGP office-bearers and members Sreeshaila Ramannavar, Dr. Shekar S. Iyer, Shobha Sambashivan, Usha Manohar Lal, Jagannath, V.S. Sethuram, B.J. Jwala, Suresh, S.V. Shankar, Kalpana Vishwanathan, Geetha Velumani, D.V. Dayananda Sagar, L.N. Yadav, V. Prabha, Guruprasad, Sachitha, Lalitha Ramanna, Manohar, U.S. Sadashiva and others were present.
I remember Modi saying something like this that Congress strategy is “Let the poor remain poor so that we can provide them freebies and keep winning elections.” Looking at current state of affairs this seems true. If poor become rich then they wouldn’t need freebies and they wouldn’t vote to the party giving freebies.
@Vinod
You are besotted so much with your leader Narendra Modi, who hid in his igloo grwing long beard for months in 2021, and ignoring the plight of large numbers of pandemic-sruck people, hundreds of thousands of them incarverated at home due to the lock downs and so many of them died without oxygen supplies.
If Narendra Modi and the state government had helped those suffering from the Pandemic effect swhich removed even their meagre effoet to help themsleves, there is no necessitry to give out these money freebies.
Just look at this GRAHACHARA outfit meeting. Old geezers, indulging in talks providing their arm chair esolutions. That JSS person, was an academic far removed from the realities of the real world.
The fact is India is not a welfare state unlike Canada, and European countries, where the state comes to the aid ofpeople automatically with welfare schemes kicking in to keep them above the poverty line.
During 2020 and 2021, when Indians were totally lost, many with no means of supporting themselves, Western countries like US and Europe, intervened provided freebies to help people to address their needs.
Talk is easily achiecved and thgis MGP is a talking shop.
ಭೋಳಿಮಕ್ಕಳ!! ಬಿಟ್ಟಿ ಭಿಕ್ಷೆಗೆ ಮತ ಹಾಕಿ ಜೀವನಾದ್ಯಂತ ಜೋಳಿಗೆ ಹಿಡ್ಕೊಂಡೆ ಸಾಯಿರಿ. ಮಾನ ಮರ್ಯಾದೆ ಎನು ಬೇಕಿಲ್ಲ!
So the retired professor of a third rate institution exhibits his absolute ignorance into bringing together the freebies and welfare schemes.In a country like India, which does not have well planned welfare schemes, as it was not developed subscribing to the concept of a welfare state, which even the US has to an extent, and Europe has embraced since the end of WWII. Without the underlying welfare state approach, the only way to help people in need is to provide them freebies.
All over Europe, where countries operate on the basic tenets of welfare state, the devastating effect of the Covid pandemic was so severe, that the well oiled welfare schemes operating through decades were not enough to alleviate the misery, and hence freebies were used to top them up.
This idiot, who worked in a third rate college, was among fellow idiots in this congregation of this useless outfit called the MGP, which was the brain child of an useless cretin called Barmy Shenoy. Where was he then?
So the retired professor of a third rate institution exhibits his absolute ignorance into bringing together the freebies and welfare schemes.In a country like India, which does not have well planned welfare schemes, as it was not developed subscribing to the concept of a welfare state, which even the US has to an extent, and Europe has embraced since the end of WWII. Without the underlying welfare state approach, the only way to help people in need is to provide them freebies.
All over Europe, where countries operate on the basic tenets of welfare state, the devastating effect of the Covid pandemic was so severe, that the well oiled welfare schemes operating through decades were not enough to alleviate the misery, and hence freebies were used to top them up.
This idiot, who worked in a third rate college, was among fellow idiots in this congregation of this useless outfit called the MGP, which was the brain child of an useless cretin called Barmy Shenoy. Where was he then?
>> Old geezers, indulging in talks providing their arm chair esolutions.
You are a old geezer too hiding somewhere in the corner of the world and waste SOM forum space for personal rants using multiple pseudo names.
Shame on you…
@swamy
What are you blabbering about? Are you on drugs?
Who are you referrung to , you fool? I am 45, live in Kerala, and travel around the world on my business, and reported what I observed. You seem to be suffering from the phobia about ols people!
Better get your brain scanned for a possible damage.
Here is a matter-of-fact analysis
https://youtu.be/DaSGb7wh5zE
@Ramsanathan
You must be very daft to post that link. You look like a dimwitted sucker.
@Ramsanathan
You must be very daft to post that link. You look like a dimwitted sucker.