Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji has set the cat among the pigeons once again. In his typical and very “in-the-eye” manner of raising an issue, he has raised the decibel of debate on the “Revdi culture”. This innocuous little sesame-coated Indian sweet seems to have a “culture” of its own today. A culture where giving things away for free by political parties, and subsequently by popularly elected governments seems the norm. It is essentially a pop-culture (if you may call it that) at the center of today’s debate.
The basics then. The start point of this exploration is really the question: What’s a freebie? The issue is really in the definition. No two parties (political or otherwise) seem to agree. For one, a freebie is really what the poor, hapless and deprived citizen needs. And for the other, it is a bleed on the exchequer without real meaning or sustainable and meaningful contribution.
If I were to really peel the entire debate to its simplest bit, I would say that a freebie is a boon till you are elected, and a bane once you are. Those yet to sit in the ruling benches will therefore depend on doling out the freebie (and more its promise), and when you actually sit on those hot benches as a ruling party, you will want it dispensed with. The debate shall therefore continue endlessly.
The very meaning of the word free is “that which is given or available without a charge”. To an extent, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat to keep our bodies living are items that are free. Or at least meant to be. In a simplistic manner of speaking, all else is possibly meant to be on charge. Clothing and shelter must be bought for sure. And all items of consumptive excess are meant to be bought as per individual means and ability as well. And this “means” is possibly what gives meaning to motivation, the will to work, the will to contribute and the will to participate in economy and society building. All items “on charge” are therefore meant to be items that contribute to bring in animal instinct, power and the will to grow for an economy, a country and its people. All items that are “free” are really meant to be the basics. Basics that sustain life. Items that are free are therefore to an extent meant to be disincentives or politely put, zero-incentives to hard work, effort, personal growth and enrichment as well.
What then of higher-end needs? I am now talking of items that live in the relatively higher-end buckets of health and education, possibly in that order of importance. Must the government of the day offer this for free as well?
What then of items such as jobs? Must governments offer it for free? Must schemes such as the MGNREGA continue endlessly then? Is the right to livelihood not a basic as well? And what about electricity? Is that not a basic right as well? And must it not come free? What about aids that get a whole generation out of its impoverishment and inequality? Bicycles to ride to school? Laptops that can enrich the way you educate yourself? And what about covering expenses for the marriage of a girl who comes from an impoverished family?
Let’s keep stretching the freebie elastic more and more then, till it breaks. What about bus rides in a city for women? And for children? For the differently-abled?
If you give a man food, you don’t give him motivation to grow that food. If, however, you teach him how to grow his food, that would lead to a constructive economic activity that would be self-sustainable for a long time to come. And yet, this is not as simple as stated. What of an entire generation of people who just don’t know how to grow their food? Would you not help them with a freebie or two while they learnt how to grow their food? Would you not be patient?
The pioneering school midday meal scheme of Tamil Nadu’s popular Chief Minister M G Ramachandran, which was then taken to further highs or lows (depending on which side of the debate fence you belong) by Selvi J Jayalalithaa, is a clear case in point. Education was given a miss by a lot of children and their families. The provision of nutritious food in the school at government’s cost was an incentive to send children to school.
The key point to remember is that all freebies, whether the basic ones, the middle-end ones such as health and education freebies, or completely high-end ones such as laptops, toilets, houses, loan waivers and marriage allowances all come from money the governments (State or Central) have collected from and for the people and the economy at large. Everything comes from all the direct taxes (which a relatively few pay) and indirect taxes which all of us pay.
And this is where the need for discipline lies. Political personas of every kind need to think as if they are already out there in governance and government. One needs to talk in one tongue. Not two. Not in one tongue before the election and in another quick-replacement substitute tongue thereafter.
For an economy that is all about taking care of its myriad peoples, there are no free lunches to dole out. If you get a free lunch, you are the lunch really. If you don’t mind being the lunch, why cry? Subsidy-living is temporary for the receiver, but a perennial outflow for the giving government. And governments cannot give freebies forever.
The Debt to GSDP ratio of as many as five Indian states has crossed the precarious 30% level. And as many as eight others sit on the precipice of debt. And at the level of the Centre, fiscal deficit target discipline has indeed gone haywire, hitting a near double-digit number as opposed to an ideal target of 2% or a more realistic level of 3% as committed in budget after budget.
As State after State falls into the freebie trap due to the compulsions of the electorate and its management strategies as listed by the political party that wants its share of votes, government money leaks and goes more to pay off debts on loans (at times taking a loan to pay off a loan as well), instead of finding its way into more hard investments that are enduring enough to create more value for the nation and its people. I think governments of the day, both at the States and at the Centre, need to have an active and dynamic plan to work towards a freebie-free future. We need a Net Zero Freebie Goal by 2027. If not earlier.
Brand Guru & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc
(harishbijoor@hotmail.com)