{"id":37304,"date":"2025-02-13T21:03:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T15:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=37304"},"modified":"2025-08-19T17:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T11:52:11","slug":"freebies-culture-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/13-02-2025\/freebies-culture-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Freebies Culture in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Polity and Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court Judge said that the freebies ease the poor into a parasitic life, draining them of the will to find work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This comes amid<strong> announcement of freebies by governments and political parties before elections.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SC held that the <strong>steps to make the poor and the disadvantaged part of the mainstream<\/strong> were better than offering them freebies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are Freebies?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>&#8220;freebies&#8221; or &#8220;revdi culture&#8221;<\/strong> refers to the practice of political parties offering free goods, services, or subsidies to the public, particularly during election campaigns, in an attempt to garner votes.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The word &#8220;revdi&#8221; is used metaphorically to describe the free handouts, as it evokes the image of distributing free gifts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 1<\/strong><strong>23 of the RP Act:<\/strong> It says that it is deemed a corrupt practice if any gift, offer or promise of gratification is made to voters directly or indirectly by a candidate or his agent or any other person acting on their consent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Arguments in Favour of Freebies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Social Welfare: <\/strong>Freebies can provide immediate relief to economically disadvantaged sections, helping reduce poverty and inequality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Empowerment: <\/strong>They can empower marginalized groups, especially women, students, and low-income families, by providing opportunities they might otherwise not afford, like free education or cash transfers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Boost to Consumption: <\/strong>Offering free goods or services, like free electricity or gas, can increase disposable income, allowing people to spend more on other necessities, thereby stimulating the economy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Incentive for Governance:<\/strong> Freebies can also act as a measure of how well a government is meeting the basic needs of its citizens, acting as a direct reflection of governance efficiency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Arguments Against Freebies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Financial Burden:<\/strong> The cost of providing freebies can strain government finances, diverting resources from long-term development projects like infrastructure, healthcare, and education.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dependency:<\/strong> Freebies may create a dependency on the state, discouraging self-reliance and a culture of entitlement, instead of encouraging people to seek sustainable opportunities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inefficiency:<\/strong> Freebies often do not address the root causes of poverty or economic inequality, focusing on short-term solutions rather than creating lasting opportunities for growth and employment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Populist Politics: <\/strong>The distribution of freebies can be seen as a way for political parties to manipulate voter sentiment and secure votes, undermining the integrity of elections and democratic processes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unsustainable: <\/strong>The long-term sustainability of freebies is questionable, as governments may struggle to maintain such schemes without affecting fiscal health or leading to increased taxes for the general population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Important SC Judgements Related to Freebies:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>S. Subramaniam Balaji vs. State of Tamil Nadu (2013): <\/strong>The Supreme Court upheld the right of political parties to offer freebies but emphasized that the distribution of freebies should be done responsibly.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It stated that only an individual candidate, not his party, can commit a \u2018corrupt practice\u2019 under the RP Act by promising free gifts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on Freebies (2022): <\/strong>In this case, the Supreme Court refrained from passing any immediate judgment but asked the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/election-commission-of-india\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/election-commission-of-india\/\">Election Commission of India<\/a> to look into the matter and come up with recommendations.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The court also raised concerns about the long-term sustainability of such promises and their impact on governance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Regulation:<\/strong> The government could introduce clear guidelines to regulate the distribution of freebies, ensuring they are targeted and aligned with long-term welfare goals rather than just electoral promises.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Electoral Reform: <\/strong>The Election Commission could enforce stricter rules on the distribution of freebies during election periods, limiting excessive promises and ensuring they do not affect the fairness of elections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fiscal Responsibility:<\/strong> States and the central government need to adopt more fiscally responsible policies to ensure that any welfare schemes are financially sustainable and do not lead to a debt burden.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public Awareness: <\/strong>Educating the public about the implications of freebies and encouraging a demand for policies that provide long-term solutions, such as infrastructure development and job creation, could shift the focus toward growth-oriented governance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/sc-deprecates-practice-of-announcing-freebies-says-people-not-willing-to-work\/article69210262.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong> TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court Judge said that the freebies ease the poor into a parasitic life, draining them of the will to find work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37304"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51596,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37304\/revisions\/51596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}