Political parties must refrain from promising doles that strain state finances
Today, the state government will formally launch a scheme to provide LPG consumers Rs 3,000 annually (equivalent to three cylinders). The government has announced that the scheme will have no income limit. Rs 100 crore has been sanctioned for it. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the forms will be made available with the panchayats and MLAs, and that the first release of payment will start from September 9. It is commendable that the government is working to implement such schemes. It will be a big relief for people ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi. Assembly elections are not far away, and implementation of schemes and fulfilment of pending assurances will be put on the fast track. However, questions arise as to why welfare scheme funds are otherwise not released on time.
Sawant said the scheme was part of his 2022 Assembly poll promise. The free cylinders assurance was in the BJP manifesto announced a week before the election. In the first cabinet meeting after taking over the reins for his second term, Sawant had assured that the promise would be fulfilled. However, after some months, the Finance Department raised a red flag, considering that the financial situation was not good in view of the Covid pandemic.
Ahead of the 2022 polls, the BJP government implemented a 16-litre free water supply scheme in September 2021. It was discontinued later. It is common to see governments making new announcements and resolving pending matters in the last five months of the Assembly term.
In the past five years, elections in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu saw major political parties promising the moon. In Tamil Nadu, there was intense competition between the main parties. Their pre-poll promises were tempting, some even unconventional. They included six free LPG cylinders a year, medical insurance of up to Rs 25 lakh per family, Rs 2,500 per month for the woman head of a household, an unemployment stipend, startup loans, a comprehensive farm loan waiver, a dedicated department of artificial intelligence, etc. TVK, which came to power later, promised a gold ring for newborns. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay has begun to implement it. The promise of an unemployment dole is not new to Goa. Over a decade ago, one national party promised it but failed to implement it. Special status was promised by both the Congress and the BJP, but they never took steps to implement it while in power.
In their eagerness to secure votes, political parties have fallen into the bad habit of making tall promises. They make promises without even checking whether they are feasible. The implications are bad for the respective states, and Goa will not be an exception. State funds, which are required for asset creation, get diverted to fulfil poll promises, even though they are a huge drain on the state’s finances, creating long-term fiscal vulnerabilities. Freebie culture has become widespread in the country. As a commentator suggested, the Election Commission of India or some other authority should mandate that any manifesto promise include an audited financial disclosure specifying the projected annual cost, source of revenue, and the capital expenditure offsets required.
The RBI, in its review of state finances, highlighted that subsidies and doles alone consume almost one-third of state revenue in high-spending states. State governments that focus on creating employment opportunities with reasonably good pay scales, keeping their fiscal expenditure in check, and providing tech-driven delivery systems deserve applause, rather than those that believe only in giving doles to keep voters happy.
