Congress government in Karnataka is left with no development funds for constituencies after it being allocated to fulfil prepoll freebies guarantees. Deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Wednesday candidly remarked about the development funds to make the miffed lawmakers understand.
According to the Karnataka Deputy CM, funds would be prioritised for the five prepoll guarantees issued by the Congress party rather than for the development work.
No Fund For Development in Karnataka: DK Shivakumar
DK Shivakumar was responding to a query about MLAs looking for a forum to voice their displeasure over postponed development projects and ministers’ lack of accessibility.
Read More: Jairam Ramesh Tries to Pass The Buck on Congress’ Freebies Promises For Karnataka to Centre
He said that the MLAs will be explained the situation at the Congress Legislature Party meeting on Thursday.
“The previous BJP government has led the state into bankruptcy. We now have the responsibility of correcting their mistakes and arranging funds for our guarantees,” he said. He pointed out the Karnataka CM had advised all MLAs to be patient.
DKS reasoned that MLAs shouldn’t expect to have money for their respective constituencies – not during this fiscal year at least – because the administration is required to mobilise significant resources to implement the five pre-poll guarantees by the Congress party to the people of the state.
Even my department, water resources and irrigation has not received any funding,” Shivakumar said.
Shivakumar’s remarks come a day after a letter to CM Siddaramaiah from 11 Congress MLAs went viral, in which they expressed their discontent over the alleged lack of funding for carrying out development activities in their respective constituencies.
The Freebies Politics
In Indian politics, freebies or the revdi culture is the oldest trick in the book.
Any policy action that does not assure a net gain to production and productivity in the medium to long term may be viewed as a “freebie,” according to N R Bhanumurthy, vice chancellor of the BR Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE).
The credit to bring freebies into the next domain goes to Aam Aadmi Party and its convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Ever since it came to power in Delhi in 2013, it has sought to subsidise water and electricity bills.
Are Freebies Good For the Economy?
Freebies – though highly popular among the general public are not recommended by economic experts.
“Most freebies (unless at a time of huge urgency such as COVID) which are often poorly directed are a fiscal mistake with significant adverse consequences. And these exist in most states and under most forms of governments,” ICRIER Chairman Pramod Bhasin said.
Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID) Director Nagesh Kumar echoed similar sentiments, saying state governments must exercise fiscal responsibility lest they find themselves in an unsustainable situation.
Kumar further gave the example of Sri Lanka’s case to explain how fiscal profligacy always leads to disaster.
Conclusion
Promises of freebies have always existed in Indian politics, however, in recent years they have transformed into a much bigger issue.
Now, every party wants to replicate the AAP model which ensures easy votes. Although none bothers to care about the financial impact on the exchequer as now a state like Karnataka has no funds remaining for developmental works.
