At third meeting of chief secretaries, Centre cautions against 'freebies'
chief secretaries against resorting to «freebies» and is pushing them to increase capital expenditure instead, ET has gathered.
At the third National Conference of Chief Secretaries held last week in New Delhi, top state government officials were advised to guide the ruling politicians against «freebies». The suggestion from the Centre comes as the country heads into a big election year, sparking another potential round of poll promises.
It also comes barely a month after five states went to polls with several election promises that arguably qualify as «freebies.»
At the conference chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, distinctions were made on types of welfare schemes, in special sessions by the Union finance ministry and Niti Aayog on «Rationalisation of schemes» and «raising capital expenditure.»
While enabling schemes for girls education and school transport/bicycles were termed acceptable, the likes of free drinking water and electricity were referred to as kind of schemes that «drain» the state coffer, and set undesirable and unsustainable precedents.
The central government's distinction, in fact, comes amid an ongoing debate on what exactly constitutes a «freebie» — a question that the Supreme Court is also seized of. Even the Election Commission of India has attempted a proposed process whereby political parties would declare the financial rationale of a poll promise.
However, political and policy opinion makers continue to be deeply divided on the matter.
Building on the issue of welfare-centric schemes, the Centre also strongly advised the state chief secretaries to focus on raising capital expenditure in respective states to boost overall economic growth which can help address social concerns much
