POLITICAL DIARY
New Delhi, 28 March 2009
It’s Raining
Populist Freebies
ECONOMIC COST BE
DAMNED!
By Poonam I Kaushish
It is raining freebies in this mad season of elections.
Wherein sound economic sense has been surrendered to political gamesmanship.
Reckless promises are being made by all parties with gay abandon, on the
assumption that populist promises yield better electoral rewards than reasoned
issues and sustainable programmes. Who cares? After all promises are just
promises. And Government money is nobody’s money!
The populism political parties indulge in would, indeed, be
comic were it not for its future consequences for the country. None sees the
danger of political disintegration and economic derailment. Tragically, in this
nautanki of one-upmanship and
populist bravado all expose the hollowness of their political commitment.
Dismissing as nonsense the economic logic that there is no such thing as a free
lunch as all merrily dole out wages of populism.
Leading the pack is none other than the Congress. It pledges
to shower 25 kg rice at Rs 3 per kg on its aam
aadmi, read BPL families. Along with a promise to set up subsidized
community kitchens for the homeless and migrants, health insurance cover for
the poor and supply bijli at affordable prices. No matter that the
Government would need to borrow over Rs120000 crores. And never mind its
commitment to the path of fiscal responsibility. Sic.
Not to be outdone the BJP too joined the pro-poor chorus.
Upping the Congress offer of rice at Rs 3 to Rs 2 per kg for BPL homes and at
Re 1 per kg for all antyodaya cardholders.
Specially, as its ‘rice politics’ had led to the Party returning to power in
Chhattisgarh last year. With women comprising half the electorate, it also
pledged to replicate the Madhya Pradesh Government’s “Ladli Laxmi Yojana” to the rest of the country.
True, it can be argued that political parties are obliged to
be seen as populist. In this no-holds-barred free-for-all electoral race, it
would be foolish and stupid to wish away political lollipops to entice the
electorate. But the point that needs to be stressed is that political promises
in the economic sphere should not cross the prudence limits, where it starts
hurting the economy as a whole.
To put in another way, assurances of providing cheap rice,
wheat or free electricity can be justified on a variety of grounds. Acute
poverty is one. Aren’t such concessions imperative in a country where 40 per
cent of the people live below the poverty line and over 700 million earn less
than Rs 20 a day. Is it not the duty of our jan
sevaks to take care of the welfare of its people?
Sound argument. But at the same time in politics one should
never mistake rhetoric for reality. Politicians of all hues cry themselves
hoarse for “a better deal for the poor.” Those who asked for water have been
given watershed management programmes. Those who wanted naukri have been handed over the National Guarantee Employment
Scheme. For the farmers dying under the burden of debt have been guaranteed
loan waivers of Rs 65,000 crore. Those who clamoured for houses have to suffice with pipedreams of Rs
25,000 houses. More and more of trees, not the coveted mangoes!
Not for our netagan
the agonising reality that over 600 million hungry stomachs continue to feed on
the enticing neon lights of fast foods or rummage in garbage bins for
rat-infested left-over. Sleep on dirty pavements and use the sidewalks for
their morning constitutional. According to UN World Food Programme latest
report, India
ranks 94th in the Global Hunger Index of 119 countries. With over 230 million
of its rural poor being undernourished (the world’s highest) malnutrition
accounts for nearly 50% of child deaths.
Besides, Election 2009 is no different from previous polls.
In the last 42 years and more populism has reared its ugly head in various
forms. The ball was set rolling by the DMK in Tamil Nadu in 1967 when it
guaranteed rice at Rs 1. The Telegu bidda
NTR Rama Rao followed suit by promising rice at Rs 2 per kg in 1983 when
his newly formed TDP swept the polls in a stunning victory. Conveniently,
forgetting that thanks to this there was a sharp reduction in industrial growth
rate.
Then came the disastrous “loan melas” of the late eighties
wherein the total subsidies during 1987-88 was Rs.42,324 crores or 15 per cent
of the Gross Domestic Product. Followed by the Congress resurrecting Indira
Gandhi’s ‘Garibi Hatao’ and Narasimha Rao’s “Roti,
kaprah aur makan” with “Congress ka
haath aam aadmi ke saath.” The BJP countered this with its BSP: Bijli, Sadak aur Paani campaign which
saw it wrest 4 States.
Last year, bereft of anything knew to offer the aam aadmi, ‘rice politics’ once again
took centre-stage. Wherein 6 poll-going States (Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Orissa and Tamil Nadu) saw parties and Governments
promising subsidized rice and grain to the poor, ranging from Rs 1 to Rs 3. The
electoral dividends that accrued speak volumes. The DMK returned in Tamil Nadu,
the BJP retained Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and debuted in Karnataka and
Congress in Andhra.
That apart, sadly none sees the writing on the wall: These
populist promises are counter-productive. As underscored by the Justice Wadhwa
Committee report submitted to the Supreme Court in 2006 on the health of the
PDS system. Citing the Karnataka decision to provide rice at Rs. 3 per kg to
BPL families, the report avers: “This has led to a mad rush among people for
categorization under BPL”. It warned that “unless effective mechanism to screen
BPL families were worked out, it would lead to shortage foodgrains under the
PDS, which in any way is inefficient, corrupt and reeling under massive pilferage.”
Clearly, care should be taken to draw a distinction between
welfarism and populism. Welfarism takes into account the needs of different
sections of the society as a part of a large development framework. Populism,
on the other hand, is guided not so much by social concerns but by vote banks.
It essentially implies granting certain concessions which have no economic
rationale and are not part of the larger economic planning, as enunciated by
the government.
The basic question that has been highlighted once again by
free-falling gifts is the subject reality of grinding poverty, which continues
to haunt us after 62 years of Independence. Populism will only provide
immediate succour at the expense of the entire future. It is no remedy for
neglect of education and health. Faulty priorities in respect of
industrialization and under-investment in rural areas. Growth of corruption and
a bloated bureaucracy. Over population and apathy to greater productivity. A
Government cannot afford to throw away money on populist whims.
Unfortunately, our policy-makers have been unable to
perceive the reality of the situation. They have consistently failed to evolve
a strategy of development which would take into account our pluralism and
fluctuating economic disparities.
It is time now for the political parties to realize that
liberalization and populism do not go hand in hand. The aam aadmi is no fool. Each populist slogan only accentuates his
growing awareness. The real significance of any electoral battle is that unless
the problem of poverty is substantially resolved, violent earthquakes will
continue to rock the Indian polity, whereby it could endanger our federalism
and pluralism. The time to draw a ‘lakshman
rekha’ on vote bank politics. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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