This question intrigues most of the Indians especially the middle class who feel that they are paying taxes and freebies are being distributed by governments for their own political gains.Freebies have no exact definition and anything that is subsidised can be termed as freebies.Free mangalsutra, free electricity , free education etc can be termed as freebie by some and social inclusion by others.Some say that they are trying to ensure socio-economic justice through freebies and opponents will say that they are making people habituated to free culture.

Let me narrate a short story,I met a street vendor and just asked her casually about what free she is going to get in the elections.And she was elated and said that she expected atleast somethings which will help her overcome her domestic turmoil.She was everyday there at the same place, working as usual, earning her daily living but didn’t mind something free coming to her.Can we term such a lady as habituated to free money? After all she is working as usual but expecting that atleast at the time of elections some upliftment of her household can happen.I have a simple question.If some politician promises a tax cut,will not tax-payers vote for that politician? The point is that electorates vote as per their priority and priorities can be different but not wrong or right.

Freebies culture in India is compensating for lack of quality social infrastructure in India.India’s education and health sector does not evince confidence and when it comes to life , a poor person would not like to die if treatment is available but he has no money.Thus, every section of India’s society is now moving towards private money creation as India’s new growth story is largely driven by private sector.India’s social infrastructure has become private dominated and access to that requires money.The social reality of India is propelling its electorate to accept freebies as the promise to have good health and education at reasonable cost has become elusive in India.

The reason for this is gross underinvestment in health and education in India which remains at meagre 3 percent of GDP against expectation of 7 to 8 percent of GDP.And this is not intentional.India’s government has been facing a major dilemma:Growth or development? Economic growth requires major investment in infrastructure like roads, power, railways etc as they give direct boost to economic activity which is essential for job creation and alleviation of poverty.However, this means underinvestment in social infrastructure as there are yet not enough resources with Indian government to accomodate both of them as the establishment cost of the government itself consumes most of the resources.Further, investment in health and education can give long term impact but may not be able to win elections which come after every five years.

But things have changed and are expected to change further.Firstly, India’s politics is now getting attention on health and education and campaigns around them are picking up.Secondly, India’s rate of infrastructure expenditure will come to some kind saturation as country would have invested decent amount of money in infrastructure over the next decade.Thirdly, there is increasing realisation in various sections of society that such high rate of tax without some permanent social model of improvement in human capital will only create dissatisfaction in the people.Fourthly, if governments continue to neglect social infrastructure, the only way they will be able to win elections is with freebies and it is becoming evident that freebies have started costing more than health and education budgets in some states.

So, the simple answer to this complex questions of distribution of freebies in India is that it will pick up momentum in short term but will wane in long term as political class and society realises that they are headed nowhere by doing this.A solution to this requires following things:

1)Firstly, political parties must agree on a common minimum socio-economic programme especially on sectors like health and education and stick to it.

2)Secondly,Fiscal responsibility and Budgetary management act should be modified to link distribution of free things/services with actual growth in state’s revenue.Currently , only deficit is the parameter which leads to crippling of operation of government facilities by distributing its resources in freebies.

3)Thirdly, a trust has to be created that any child born in India will get equal access to advance his or her own life through out elementary, secondary and higher education has to be built up.

4)Philanthropy in social infrastructure should be encouraged and governance of such facilities should include eminent personalities and donors on their board to keep external oversight.

India’s freebie culture is just a transitional phase and it reflects how the economic growth and social inclusion negotiates with each other in reality.However, it is a good time that politicians should start discussing ways to balance India’s economic infrastructure with social infrastructure.