FREEBIES – AN OPEN AUCTION IN ELECTIONS

 

 

 

   FREEBIES – AN OPEN AUCTION IN ELECTIONS                                    

 

                            Democracy is a system of government in which power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or through freely elected representatives. In India, this democracy works on the principle of federalism, political equality, formation of opinion and the right of individuals to participate with the free and fair elections at its core. Elections form the bedrock of the largest democracy in India and its importance lies in choosing the leader, voicing the resentment against ruling party, self- correction and political participation.

                            In India, as the methodology of election has changed from a ballot paper system to an electronic voting system, the democratic process of election has also changed. Election that used to be a way for the people to assert their voice or opinion and choose the person of their choice is now being influenced by the threats, manipulations and misinformation, all being facilitated by technological developments. Even the manifestos which are the guiding documents for governance and include policies, programmes as well as the blueprint for schemes and projects are now being manipulated as per the convenience and opportunity, both by those who are governing and the ones who want to govern. The politics of commitment has changed to the politics of convenience and opportunism with the commitments made during election rallies being demeaned later on to the false promises (Jumlas) and strategic tactics.

                           A very well-known and a widespread practice that has been rife in Indian politics and occupies a key place in election manifesto has been the freebies, defined as the offerings without any charge or cost. A paradigm shift has occurred in these freebies and the conventional offerings like free water, free electricity and free health services have lost their charm. On the contrary, new offerings like free gadgets, grinders, bicycles, cash incentives etc. have been prioritised and if one party is willing to cook food for voters, the other party is ready to cook and feed both. With each upcoming elections, an extraordinary, innovative, lucrative and materialistic ideas of freebies are being offered by different political parties to lure voters, despite knowing the fact that these freebies will put the state revenue in red zone.

                               Most of the political parties support distributing such freebies with an argument in favour that it is another form of social welfare to enhance the capacity of poor people, to reduce poverty and to empower the target beneficiaries. Had freebies been a sustainable solution, the free electricity, free water, farm loan waivers, subsidies, minimum support price etc. being offered to the farmers since decades would have marked Indian agriculture as one of the most productive sectors. On the contrary, India produces less crop per hectare and as per the reports China’s rice productivity is 7 tonnes per hectare compared to India’s 4 tonnes per hectare. Similarly, there would not have been any starvation deaths, suicides, poor education and health service if offering freebies were so productive and helpful.

                                The voters also view elections as an opportunity to fix their deals and en cash whatsoever comes their way. Rather than being like the participants and shoulder their responsibilities, they behave like consumers buying a product, forgetting the fact that these freebies are not coming from the pockets of any political parties but from the money of taxpayers, most of whom may be the beneficiaries themselves. They need to understand that the social, political and economic consequences of these freebies are very short-lived in nature and are meant only to swing their votes.

                                 The terms like welfare, progressive, beneficial schemes used alternatively for these freebies seem very encouraging but the fact remains that these offers make citizens lethargic, irresponsible, non-progressive and immune to the use of innovation. These freebies depict a bad political philosophy that paves way to corrupt practices, controls voters thoughts and are just like an open auction. If these freebie allurements are not stopped timely, people living in poor economic conditions may be lured into a political trap and time may come when the government’s revenues would be dedicated to only disbursing the freebies, fair enough to ruin economy of the country in the long run.

              The responsibility and duty of any elected government lies in providing a basic healthcare, an affordable education and other essential services like water, house and electricity to its citizens. Yet the political parties for their personal gains and selfish motives project themselves as the messiah of poor people and claim as if they are the ones who are doing favour to them. Instead, the revenue is collected from taxpayers and already the set procedures do exist in the system for using this money for welfare of the people.

         The democratic process of election and election promises need to be clear as also the mentality of voters who are behaving like consumers rather than the participants. They need to pull their sleeves up, come out of this political trap and participate in huge numbers to strengthen the real democracy. At the same time, the election commission needs to ensure free and fair elections, define what should be listed as freebies and bring the non-listed offerings under the ambit of the model code of conduct. Only with such kind of efforts the wielders of political power can be kept under check and power will remain with the people only – A real meaning of Democracy.

 

Dr. Pawan Suri

Director & Chief Cardiologist

Global Hospital, Jalandhar, Punjab

Email : psuricardio@gmail.com