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.
This post was published on June 14, 2023 7:38 pm