Written by Mathirakshana K
Edited by Mehul Shah
Illustrated by Shreya Srinivasan
One may ask why would you run away from freebies - I mean, free stuff is always good! Especially given that we live in an economy where the general market price gets steeper sooner than you can say hello.
So what is one’s typical response to a freebie? FLIGHT? Or FRIGHT?
Well, this piece is written in reference to the Tamil Nadu freebie schemes adopted by the government.
The Election Commission has divulged that freebies are subjectively understood, and hypothetically, in the occasion of a natural disaster or pandemic, there will be a need to provide life-saving medicines and supply food and money, but in a potential situation it is derived to be named freebies.
Even the RBI, the Reserve Bank of India, has declared that freebies are not merit goods or expenditures, that’s not how they classify, but rather are provisions for free electricity, water, transport, and waivers on loans and benefits.
Late Chief Minister Kamaraj of the current state of Tamil Nadu, incorporated the idea of free education and free meals for students in school between the years 1954 - 1963, and later that got reinstated through the DMK founder, CN Annadurai, promising 4.5 kg of rice for Re. 1 as a promise during elections.
As time went by and the state of the world faced developments, DMK started an offer of colour televisions to the voters, and then the never-ending cycle of providing freebies as a lure during election times for the parties in competition then on. However, must we flee or fear it, that is the question. Very Shakespearean like, no?
If the State can still dispense freebies while accommodating them within the financial bandwidth and if the allocation of resources is still functioning well and not compromised. In essence, it is understood that as a part of the electoral culture and by using freebies as an incentive, it might encourage people to vote, but will cast a ‘fearful’ spell (get the pun?) on the party after being voted as the ruling party for it will be something you’d want to do away with.
Therein lies the concept of teaching someone the art of doing something - much like the Chinese proverb ‘give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’, instead of just freely giving away items to people, educating about how to sustain their livelihood and fending for themselves to create a sustainable economy, is more useful in the long term.
The midday meal scheme in schools, by the late Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, motivated parents who were not able to afford food, to send their children to school at least with the prospect of feeding them. Freebies can however, range from basic to high-end ones - it can be health and education as middle-end ones and high-end ones such as loan waivers, laptops, houses, etc and are all accumulated from the taxes levied on the people of the economy.
With the main motive being hovering over others in the election season, a State’s fiscal health is in trouble, which curtails the potential of investing in other social welfare programmes.
There are advantages to this as well, for they heighten the sense of public trust and satisfaction, and even have a hand in economic growth in the productive capacity like bicycles given to students, increased enrollment rates, and decreased dropout rates.
Yet, it develops a pattern of dependency on the government itself - the voters become lethargic and rely heavily on the freebies by the government rather than working and earning. According to a poll conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 41% of Tamil Nadu voters claimed that freebies had a significant influence on their decision to vote, while 59% expressed satisfaction with the state government's performance. Causing misallocation and burden on the State’s economy is a given factor too.
What might help is drawing a clear boundary between what is welfare and freebies, and measuring out clearly what the rationale and fund allocation is to the ECI to ensure that it can be sustained and compounded to go forward.
In essence, it is in our hands.
So, one must decide: flee or fear?
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