There is no polling season in any state right now, but ‘free gifts’ have become a topic of election discussion these days. The tussle over whether it is economically prudent for political parties to promise ambitious incentives to voters has reached the next level in the Supreme Court. On Friday, the top court, in view of the “complications involved”, directed the petitions against the freebie declarations to be listed before a three-judge bench.
while ‘word’freebie’ The party, which has recently been associated with the Aam Aadmi Party for its electricity and water subsidies in Delhi and Punjab, is now opposing the term. a petition filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) told the Supreme Court that the scope of “freebie” is too broad and welfare schemes provided by state governments cannot be classified as one.
The party argues that the core of the ideology of the Dravidian movement is to uplift the socio-economically backward classes and all other oppressed sections of the society. Social welfare schemes have, in fact, been an integral part of Dravidian politics even before independence.
MGR’s self-respect movement for social welfare
The Dravidian model of governance includes the fight against upper caste dominance, social reform and welfare rooted in equality. The movement can be traced back to the Swabhiman movement of Periyar (as EV Ramaswamy was called) started in 1922, on which the Dravida Kazhagam (DK) and later the DMK was born.
Former bureaucrat and author Dinesh Narayan writes in his book that the Swabhiman movement encouraged challenging social hierarchies, paved the way for caste-based politics and sought to implement affirmative action programs for backward communities. Dravidian Year: Politics and welfare in Tamil Nadu,
Periyar’s reluctance to contest elections to members of the DK, his radical atheist beliefs and some other views led many leaders to drop out of the party, one of whom was Annadurai, who formed the DMK in 1949.
The DMK did not find success in electoral politics until the 1960s. During the period of food crisis in the state, CM Annadurai ordered to provide rice, wheat, sugar, and rice at 1 kg per rupee to provide rice, wheat, sugar and strengthened the public distribution system. Gifts such as saris and dhoti on Pongal mark the beginning of welfare schemes in the state.
Narayan says in his book, “It was not a holistic approach, but a grant-based approach towards particular sections of the people whom the government considered disadvantaged or in need of support.”
For 10 years from 1977, MG Ramachandran, who attained the status of a deity in Tamil Nadu, initiated several schemes, benefiting the poor. The most influential of these was the extension of the mid-day meal scheme to schools, initially started in 1956 by CM Kamaraj to cover economically weaker students across the state.
Narayan told a symposium organized by the Observer Research Foundation in 2018 that during the MGR regime, there was a tremendous improvement in welfare standards, as shown by international studies. World Banks and many more. This includes higher nutritional levels, a drop in infant mortality, and a reduction in anemia levels in women and children.
The successful plan did not come without its challenges. “The state had a deficit of Rs 300 crore and a determined MGR had to find nifty ways of financing the project, which were not all kosher. A Chief Minister’s Nourishing Midday Meal Program Fund was created and donations to it were exempted from income tax. Contribution to it became a pre-requisite for obtaining government approvals and for regular administrative orders,” says R Kannan, author of MGR: A Life noted.
The golden age of welfare programs ended with MGR’s death in 1987, after which they became “mere tools to win elections”, writes Narayan. Dravidian year,
color tv vs laptop
It was in 2006 that with M Karunanidhi’s pre-election announcement the “freebie” ball was actually Rs 2 per kg (a drop from Rs 3.5), free color television, free gas stoves for poor households, free electricity for farmers. started with. and weavers, and maternity support for poor pregnant women.
However, Jayalalithaa pressed the panic button and started announcing freebies one after the other, as Narayan said, the election was for the DMK.
The free color TV scheme was perhaps one of Karunanidhi’s most criticized freebies. While experts and opposition said the scheme would cost Rs 15,000 crore, Karunanidhi refuted the numbers and argued that out of 156 lakh families, 53 lakh were below poverty line and a TV set costing Rs 2,000 each. was to be given. Cost Rs 1,060 crore, a much lesser amount.
Jayalalithaa later said Rs 3,687 crore was spent from 2006 to 2011 on 106.4 lakh TV sets distributed by the government and accused Karunanidhi and his family, who ran the major Sun TV network, of benefiting from the scheme because people spent Rs 4,000 crore on cable subscription.
A research published in Oxford University Press Quarterly Journal of Economics Linking the introduction of television to villages with positive externalities on women’s empowerment. “It is concluded that the introduction of cable television leads to a significant reduction in acceptability of domestic violence, a preference for a son and fertility, as well as increased women’s autonomy in the household,” states an article in the article. news minutes,
In the 2011 elections, Jayalalithaa was quick to unveil her election promises of free rice under a specific income level, free laptops for girls in class 12 and college (the entire project cost Rs 10,200 crore) under the PDS scheme. was. Free goats, milch cows, fans and mixer-grinders.
Coming out victorious, Jayalalithaa continued to announce plans throughout her rule from 2011 to 2016. The ‘Amma Unavagam’ (Amma Canteen) scheme launched in 2013 was a successful hit. canteen sold idli, Pongal, sambar Rice and Curd Rice at highly discounted rates and commendable quality. In this scheme, women of self-help groups were also provided employment.
During this period, political observers noted that Jayalalithaa became increasingly inaccessible. While his health and legal disputes were the main reasons behind this, Narayan said that his faith in social reform or Dravidian ideology had waned and he saw each action as an opportunity to win elections.
blame the freebies
On July 16, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cautioned against the culture of distributing free gifts. At the inauguration of the Budelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said,revdl culture” will take the new India towards the dark.
“There are some governments that indulge in this” revdl The culture of securing votes, while the double engine government is working towards building new expressways and rail routes,” Modi said.
The Center in a hearing on August 11 suggested that the Supreme Court constitute an 11-member committee to look into the issue of freebies. “This freebie culture has been elevated to the level of art and now elections are fought only on the ground. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the court that if the free gifts are considered for the welfare of the people, it will lead to disaster.
Manisha Priyam, Associate Professor, National University of education Planning and Administration (NUEPA) was of the view that pre-election incentives are not a good practice and governments should focus on long-term policy making. “Offering free rides is an obvious freebie. He is looking at women as a vote bank. Certainly not all women need free rides,” she said Hindu,
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who announced free bus travel for women when he comes to power in 2021, said the initiative should not be limited to a narrow aspect of freebies as it is an “economic revolution”.
“Due to this scheme, the families (of the beneficiaries) see savings of 8-12% in their income which I would call economic revolution,” he said.
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan made a more nuanced critique of freebies during a 2021 conversation with data scientist RS Neelakantan. He said lunch schemes, marriage assistance, free laptops and cycles for students are “investments in the future”. Free Cows and Goats are “just too complex, requiring a lot of checks and balances to be practically executable”.
Even though the economic aspect of implementing the schemes may not be entirely in the government’s favor, there is no doubt that “free gifts” make life easier for the poorer sections of the society. Economist Jayati Ghosh raised an important point by saying that the term “free gift” indicates the class status of those who use it.
Ghosh was quoted as saying by the news agency, “In most other countries, universal access to appropriate quality goods and services, which constitute ‘basic needs’, is seen as a responsibility of the state, not ‘free’. ‘ In form of.” PTI,
If the political process allows political parties to respond to such needs, then these should not be seen as free, the economist said, adding that the poor in India, in fact, have a greater share of their income in taxes than the rich because of dominance. Pay. of indirect taxes in tax collection.
“Therefore they are entitled to get their basic needs,” Ghosh said.
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