Bittersweet revdi politics: States struggle to fund freebie promises
Aditi Tatkare said women listed under Namo Shetkari and direct benefits schemes will not be eligible for Ladki Bahin Yojana — the scheme which promised ₹2,100 as pension to all women above 18 years and helped the Mahayuti alliance to come back to power. Early estimates show that this will help the Maharashtra government prune the 2.63-crore beneficiary list by 20 lakh.
On January 1, Himachal CM Sukhvinder Sukhu voluntarily surrendered the free electricity subsidy of 125 units in his name and urged all self-reliant individuals to follow suit. The appeal aims to benefit the state electricity board by ₹200 crore. The Congress government, which assumed power in December 2022, has been facing severe financial crunch and struggling to implement its election promises. In the process, it has started pruning the beneficiary list and tweaking freebies introduced by the previous BJP government.
In October, in an exclusive interview to ET, Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu admitted he was struggling to implement super six promises made in the run-up to the assembly polls because of financial constraints.
As India voted for the 18th Lok Sabha and eight assembly polls in 2024, parties rolled out competitive politics of freebies. Pension for women, loan waiver for small and medium traders, monthly unemployment allowance and free bus travel for women were some of the freebies promised by them. This may have propelled parties to power but the growing financial burden of freebies has come as a reality check for state governments.
HIS
