Competitive freebies
Free electricity and health services, reduced water and power tariff, waivers for loan and bill defaulters, 80 per cent jobs for locals, double income for farmers — elections can induce impractical and illogical pronouncements by political parties of all hues. A culture of competitive freebies, like being seen now in Punjab, however, can lift delusionary dust to a whole new level, far removed from the budgetary and infrastructure realities of the state that struggles to pay salaries, and sees protests by job-seekers 24/7. The jury may be out on its capacity to alter electoral outcomes, but the sop opera is not restricted to the border state. Seeing their share are poll-bound Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh, where the Yogi government could come up with a supplementary budget soon.
As pragmatism is laid to rest in favour of unrealistic projections in Punjab, each party is outdoing the other in raising the quantum of free offerings to the ‘aam aadmi’, whose bar of expectation is anyway set low. Even the thought of fiscal prudence or structural changes, let alone floating the concepts, stands no chance in front of lazy, unworkable giveaways that could quickly lose meaning in the absence of an attempt to address core issues. Each citizen, and not just voters, for instance, deserves better answers to nagging questions as to why a ‘power-surplus’ state fails miserably in supplying round-the-clock electricity, and what accounts for the high tariff. If genuine welfare is the promise, realistic and informed conversation on what is wrong and how it can be undone would serve Punjab better.
Tamil Nadu, another state which has made a name for itself in the freebies culture to woo voters, got a reality check from the Madras High Court ahead of the election this April, when it advised leaders to stop this and engage in promoting infrastructural facilities instead. Not that it put an end to the parties’ flirtation, but the message was stark: do not reduce your duty to irresponsible populism.
