As the Supreme Court weighs in on the recent freebies debate that political parties have been sparring over, the important question is not whether giving doles is right or wrong, but whether it is viable and to what extent?

Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi pointed out that in 2013, the Supreme Court had said that although freebies interfere with free and fair elections — they influence the people's mind — but it is not a corrupt practice. The court then passed the buck on to the Election Commission to call all political parties, discuss with them and frame the guidelines.

"The political parties then pounced on the commission saying what we announce to our voters is our legitimate right. So a legal solution cannot be found, it is for the opposition political parties to remind the voters what were the false promises made, which could not be implemented. It is for the media to analyse all the promises which are unfulfilled. So let the voters decide, something should be left for the voters to decide," Quraishi said.

Here is a list of states where the public debt's rate of growth is higher than the GSDP growth most of the times in the last five years, resulting in mounting debt-GSDP ratio in these states, according to the 'State Finances: A Risk Analysis' report published by RBI in June.

However, state governments have placed the same blame on the Centre’s door.

"In the last seven years, the Centre has more than doubled its debt outstanding. Who is going to pay that debt? Aren't those debts going to be paid by the Indian children? It is not as if the state debt gets paid by the state children and the Union debt gets paid by God," said Palanivel Thiagarajan, the Tamil Nadu Finance Minister.

He questioned why the Centre's fiscal deficit every year is worse than most states. "Why is the devolution to states continuously reducing every year and they are not able to give the fair share that the Union Finance Commission said they should give? So, it is a farce," he added.

As the cliche goes, bad economics often makes for good politics. But eventually the burden falls on the taxpayer. Nothing is really free. Someone always pays the price.

Still, in a country with rising inequalities of both outcomes and opportunities, the poor and the marginalised, the periodically struggling sections of the society, including some sectors and small business, need a helping hand from the state.

As Congress spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh recently said, "Why small amounts or assistance that is given to the poor is called 'freebies' (rewri), while the freebies given to the rich via low tax rates, exemptions and write offs are 'necessary incentives' (gajak)?

Experts believe the freebies debate needs to be had in the Parliament. "This is a complete judicial overreach. This is a debate that has to be had between our politicians and voters as a collective society in the spirit of democracy. It is not a debate that can be had by a specially-created expert body outside of the political process. The right place place of this debate is in the Parliament, in the Gram Sabhas and between our politicians and our voters," Yamini Aiyar, President at the Centre for Policy Research, said.

Also Read: The freebie culture – a different state and different shades

First Published:Aug 12, 2022 9:27 PM IST