Open House: Should sops or good governance be a priority for political parties to seek votes?

Citizens should ask for good governance

Instead of providing sincere, efficient and hard working governance, the whole concept of election is now confined to announcements of freebies to voters. Politicians do provide freebies from the taxpayer’s money and get a bigger cut for themselves in form of many perks. In addition to numerous facilities our representatives do get pension after retirement for the services they render as MP, MLA or MLC. Strangely ex-MP get pension even if he is getting pension as MLA or MLC. Further their pension amount depends upon the number of terms they served in state legislature or Parliament. So they do announce freebie for the voters openly but do get many benefits for themselves. To have enhanced pension for number of terms or representing in different houses also fall in the category of freebie. But voters can’t oppose it because they are also attracted to these benefits of freebie. So, instead of asking for freebies, we as responsible citizens should ask for good governance.

Harsh Johar

taxpayers want Essential services

In our country, starting with birth certificate and ending with death certificate, we are to pay for all sorts of services then what is the purpose of freebies? First of all, vigilant voters should ask for the proper supply and maintenance of the essential services. If we get proper power and water supply, then we save money on inverter/ generator and RO system respectively. Similarly, if we pay road tax then why we are charged toll tax? The government is to provide security to every citizen, but everywhere private watchmen render services in residential and commercial areas. Now, further burden of installation of CCTV cameras is added for security purpose. Only negligible part of the population is getting education and health facilities at government institutions, rest are subjected to private institutions with exorbitant charges. So instead of getting freebies we as voters should ask the politicians to provide us basic necessities of life and create more and more employment opportunities so that people can themselves earn and pay for it.

Nityanshi Chopra

Poll confined to caste politics, freebies only

India is a poor country, inhabited by rich politicians. To prove this saying no special survey is required, the data already in public domain about BPL families and details of assets of politicians while filing nomination papers are more than sufficient to endorse it. What is the meaning of election manifesto, detailing economic and other policies of a particular political outfit, when a hungry voter is in search of two times meal? The old saying, when asked for sum total of two plus two; a hungry man replied four chapaties, is relevant even today. In response to a question, in an interview, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal rightly said, “If you don’t live up to your manifesto, people don’t get angry”. Hence, our whole election exercise is confined to freebies and caste system and our politicians do play to it thereby forgetting governance and development.

Naresh Johar

Don’t get swayed, vote on crucial issues

Even as the din of electioneering is yet to reach its crescendo, the nooks and crannies of the assembly constituencies in the state have started resounding with promises of free electricity, waiver of outstanding power bills, free and uninterrupted water supply, and good roads, with the aspiring candidates trying to sway the electorate with grand promises and unlimited offerings. But it’s more of political rhetoric, which is likely to be forgotten when the chosen ones come to power. More often than not these offerings vanish into thin air once a candidate is elected, with the voters being left high and dry. It’s a time-tested fact that requires little validation. While sops definitely do sound lucrative, voters shouldn’t be swayed by these as only time will tell whether these would become reality or not. Considering the prevailing state of affairs, the state needs able and visionary statesmen, who can offer good governance, which would eventually smoothen things out, thereby negating the need for sops.

Shaheen P Parshad

Bring law against

this stark bribery

The politicians treat voters like a king treats his subjects. They keep them starved and just before the elections, they dole out freebies or other sops only to entice them to get their votes. They, in a way, own their constituency and quarrel over it like dogs, and the whole game is to gain power and then to remain in power, by hook or by crook. For them, the voters are a ‘cattle class’ whose memory is short and analytical power nil. Amid unequal incomes, rampant unemployment and abject poverty, freebies such as aata daal, cooking gas cylinders or lure of free electricity are all very efficient vote catching devices, even if the exchequer is empty, and the state is facing the worst power crunch in history on account of coal shortage. The previous government gave away thousands of free bicycles to girls with only votes in view. In fact, parties promise the moon in their manifestoes, but, if they come to power, they forget everything and abandon their constituencies after the elections and the leaders live in palatial luxury. The poor and ignorant masses don’t understand that it is their own money, the taxes they paid indirectly while purchasing petrol, diesel, commodities etc. which is squandered in such ‘sangat darshan’ extravaganzas invented by the previous government. The Election Commission should ban this practice. In fact, it is high time there is legislation to check this ‘legal’ form of bribery which is the bane of a multi-party system bereft of any ethics or values.

Mohan Singh

Resist such practices of politicians

Poll freebies announced by parties ahead of election are political gimmicks to lure gullible voters with intent to grab the seat of power by hook or crook. This freebies culture has played havoc with state’s financial resources impacting the infrastructural development and good governance the most. Free electricity, free bus travel, loan waivers by banks has turned these entities to a white elephant and a hub of corrupt practices. People are still deprived of basic facilities like better road network, potable water facility, uninterrupted power supply & affordable health & education infrastructure even after decades of populist poll promises offered by various political parties of every hue & cry. It is time, the parties should shun this wrong practice adopted till now for a better tomorrow. People want better public utility services, job avenues & rise in living standard & not the lollypop of smartphones and laptops. Good governance, free of corruption is the key to a holistic development of a state. Good governance would automatically lead to increase in tax revenue collection & decrease in debt burden for better fiscal management of state treasury. The ECI should ban parties making lofty promises in their election manifestos without having any budgetary provisions and treat it as violation of the model code of conduct. Legal action must ve taken political outfits which are making mockery of democracy.

Anil Vinayak

People get attracted to freebies easily

Ideally, good governance should be the priority for seeking votes. I don’t believe there is any argument against that but if the government knows it has been incompetent or hasn’t lived up to its promises and expectations, it’s going to go around distributing freebies to the public as one last desperate step to hypnotise voters. Which makes sense for them to do honestly, but is it right? Unfortunately, people’s moral compasses stop working on the sight of anything free. The capability, credibility and reliability of any party should be the factors which need to be taken into account before voting for them, not the brand of the alcohol or size of the cash bundle being distributed for votes. It’s interesting to see how these parties follow the democratic set-up but plague it for their own convenience and to cover up their ineptness. Luring the crowd with free items shouldn’t be allowed at all in my opinion; the fate of the general population shouldn’t be tampered with by a few rapacious weak-minded individuals, considering how every single vote can make a difference. The government should do well for the people in the end days; leave a legacy which persuades the people enough to vote for them instead of buying their votes through free items.

Gurjas Singh

Nothing more than a trap to lure voters

It is the good governance, not the so-called freebies that should take precedence over sops. As the normal development projects fail to deliver, political parties and governments, without exception, take the support of crutches of freebies before election time to win the loyalty and allegiance of the voters for coming to power. There is no logic and justification for sops, rather this is pure populism which demonstrates that parties and governments have no vision whatsoever how to change things for the good of the people. It is a sort of trap to lure voters and the people living in poor economic conditions just walk into the trap unmindful of how it shakes the very roots of free and fair poll. Society needs virtuous, far-sighted, consensus oriented and not demagogic leaders to provide lasting solutions to the problems of the electorate. Therefore, the public should not fall for free atta-dal, free 300 units of power, free bus-ride, subsidies etc. but it should demand vociferously free education for its children, free MBBS like courses, jobs for its wards, power at affordable rates, essential commodities at reasonable prices, health services within the easy reach of one and all, good roads, pollution free environment in the cities, end of corruption ,drug abuse free society, justice, top-notch law and order , accountability of public servants etc. People should vote taking into consideration the merit, credibility, character and personality traits of an aspiring candidate. There must be a provision to recall the elected representatives if they fail to fulfill their lofty promises dangled before the credulous people. All concerned must know that the way out of poverty and corruption is paved with good governance, not with freebies and sops. Hence, temptations such as sops and freebies must be resisted. Parties are more concerned about winning elections by hook or crook than serving the people in earnest. And sops are nothing short of political corruption.

Tarsem S Bumrah

It’s the taxpayer who bears the brunt

Come the pre- election year, spree of doling freebies is in full swing. This politics of freebies is nothing but an illegal way of vote buying act indulged in by the politicians in or out of power of states going to polls in few months. Free 300 power units were promised by Kejriwal which has now been upped to 400 by Sukhbir. Ruling dispensation in Punjab is not much behind the opposition parties in making promises through the politics of freebies. These efforts of swaying by offers of freebies especially the free power for a section of society is at the cost of the majority of the public who has to pay their bills. Freebies like free power to farmers and a section of society is one of the main causes of unscheduled power cuts. Anything given free is root cause of shortage of any commodity and so is in the case of power shortage in summer when consumption of electricity is at the peak. By increasing any amount of power production there will always be a shortage if free power is given because when something is free it is used much more and is also wasted. It has become a political gimmick to promise freebies by all the political parties, so when any of these parties come in power, they try to fulfill the promises they had made. The result is that during summer and heat waves, any installed power capacity falls short of demand, because those getting free power consume much more than even their requirements and needs. Free power to any section of society is an injustice to those who are paying their high power bills through their nose. All promises of freebies made by political parties must be banned by Election Commission or by the Supreme Court of India. Lure of freebies needs to be replaced with promises of good governance, which can bring about a pleasant change in the lives of people.

LJ Singh

poll manifesto should be a legal document

It has become a common practice for the politicians to make big promises in their election manifestos and then forget about them after getting elected. There should be a law to make the election manifesto of the elected party a legal document as soon as it comes into power. There should be some strict penalties if the party fails to abide with its pre-poll promises so that it stimulates them to work for the betterment of people. People should also do their part and constantly inquire with the elected representatives about the things they promised and the things they delivered.

Jatinderpal Singh Batth

Not good for welfare of any state

Certainly, good governance should be the priority of political parties for seeking votes. The voters are very much disgruntled by false promises of political parties in order to just grab power. Crime has increased manifold times in Punjab and political parties seeking votes should make it primary issue in order to ensure good governance by them if voted to power. Development of infrastructural activities such as roads and making power surplus Punjab should be included in sops.

SANJAY CHAWLA

Freebies, good administration can co-exist

• For some years after the independence, the state was well administered and was solidly put on the path to all around progress. Ironically, thereafter, the same set of politicians started annihilation of the governance and turned the state into an instrument of loot and plunder. 1960s and 1970s were era of rationing of some food and fuel items and then a very new system of alluring the voters started.
• They were promised that some weaker sections of society would be given free atta dal, others said they would provide free electricity and others were promised free/subsidised fuel. In 1997, land revenue and water rates were abolished and free electricity was provided to the farming sector. I know that land revenue and water rate used to be very meagre, but still people were so poor that they would not be able to pay it.
• Others used to be wary of the inefficiency/frauds by the government. Even if the farmers paid land revenue, the payment was never reflected in their records and they would get recovery of dues notices times and again. Freebies and good administration can coexist. The word good governance has been coined by the media and zealously adopted by the largely perennial set of incompetent bureaucracy and unconcerned political class.
• There is a talk around that Delhi administration has provided better education and health system, but at the same time it has been providing freebies. Almost four decades have passed since people have been dependent on freebies and politicians cannot ignore promising and providing these. The freebies will continue to the people and the state will continue to loot and plunder as a reward, and bringing about good governance is far far-fetched. Abhiraj Singh Bajwa

QUESTION

Every year, we pledge to celebrate cracker-free Diwali, but it somehow vanishes into thin air. What steps the district administration must take to make eco-friendly Diwali a success? Do you think it is the sole responsibility of the administration only to curb pollution?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to amritsardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (October 21)