What is the definition of a freebie in politics?

Last Updated on June 12, 2023

Intro – Congress’s 5 Guarantees

There is a lot of talk in Karnataka about the 5 Guarantees announced by Congress as poll promises. Especially, after Congress came to power, people are excited, maybe, too excited to see them getting implemented as soon as possible. They simply can’t wait to be the beneficiaries of them. While some women refused to buy bus tickets, many people are denying to pay Electrical Bills.

We can’t blame people either. Congress’s whole campaign was about 5 guarantees if you leave the part of blaming the BJP for 40% Sarkar and Scandals – PSI scam etc. In fact, The first guarantee was announced on 17th January 2023 by Priyanka Gandhi and it was Gruha Laxmi – 2000 per month to every woman head of household.

I am not for the assertion that everyone should get the benefit of these 5 guarantees just because Congress promised them. What if it breaks Karnataka’s treasury? What if Congress drowns the Karnataka government in the flood of debt to get these Guarantees schemes to everyone? or Will it be able to follow sound fiscal management policy according to FRBM Act 2002 – Fiscal Deficit < 3% of GSDP and Total debt < 25% of GSDP?

Don’t get me wrong. Don’t think that I am not for Freebies or Welfare Schemes or whatever name you call it. I am all for these 5 Guarantees but only for the people in need – individuals and families. These Guarantee schemes either act as income support or save people some money. The needy ones should be selected and targeted based on economic criteria like Below Poverty Line etc instead of using arbitrary rules.

Freebies get a lot of flak, especially from hardcore libertarians who want to see society getting reduced to individuals and of course, from radical right-wingers who don’t want to provide any free support to the poor and downtrodden.

In this post, I will try to explore and pin down the definition of a Freebie. I hope I find one. Fingers crossed.

History and present use of “Freebie”

Freebie is a term borrowed from Business World. It meant providing free samples to promote a product in the Business world. The cost of freebies is born by the companies who wish to sell products once the consumers are hooked in. This is a standard marketing technique that everyone is familiar with.

So, in the business world, it is defined as “something that is given to you without you having to pay for it, especially as a way of attracting your support for or interest in something”.

This definition is too vague to mean anything. How to say what can or cannot be called a freebie? People have used the word “the freebie” for almost everything. Here I list the items – Commodities or Services that are usually promised by parties in an election campaign or announced while they are in power.

Free food(Anna Bagya or PMKAY), Free Education, Free healthcare, Free housing – Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Income Support to Farmers(Kisan Samman), Free cooked food in Canteens like Amma Canteen or Indira Canteen, Free Water, Free Electricity(Gruha Jyoti), Free bus travel(Uchita Prayana), Income support to Woman head of household(Gruha Laxmi), Income support to Unemployed Graduates(Yuva Nidhi). Free Color TV, Free Fan, Free Mixer, Free Phones, Free tablets, Free Laptops, Free Scooter like – 50% discount with Amma Two-wheeler Scheme Launched by PM Modi in Tamil Nadu.

I try to list the above items in the order of least controversial to the most. So, free food for the hungry is not controversial at all. All the parties accept that it is a much-needed measure.

Do you know the 3 most common public opinions about the voting or election?, then check out this post – 2023 Karnataka Assembly Election: Public’s perception over Election

Free food is not a Freebie

Here is Supreme Court’s statement on providing free food during the pandemic.

Nobody should go to sleep empty stomach as it is our culture and it is the government’s duty to ensure food grains under NFSA reach the last person.

Even the BJP which opposes Freebies very much included 5 Kg of Rice and 5 kg of Millet in their manifesto. Free food is not seen as a freebie so much as a welfare scheme. On many occasions, PM Modi called out freebies as “Revdi Culture”, but not free food because the central government itself has rolled out the scheme – Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) that provides 5kg of free food grains.

There is a law devoted only to ensuring food security for everyone in the country – National Food Security Act, 2013

Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (or, PDS) are entitled to 5 kilograms (11lb) per person per month of cereals at the following prices:

Rice at ₹3 per kg
Wheat at ₹2 per kg
Coarse grains at ₹1 per kg.

Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.

There are 81.35 crore beneficiaries under NFSA. Despite that, India ranks 107th out of 121 countries on Global Hunger Index. India also ranks below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99). Afghanistan (109) is the only country in South Asia that performs worse than India on the index.

Why does India still perform so poorly on the index?….. It sounds unbelievable and the rich would be like – “Only Afghanistan is worse than us among our neighbours. Are you kidding me? Are people going on a hunger strike or what?” Some people might blame the methodology or the prejudice against the current government. If you are from rural India, this would not be a surprise for you, especially after pandemic and the inflation after Ukrain-Russia war. This is why I don’t see a strong reason why this stats doesn’t explain the food poverty in our country.

One thing everyone agrees about freebies is that Free Food is not a Freebie. When it comes to food, it seems like all parties and even the supreme court is in agreement that Free Food is a welfare scheme.

But this still leaves us with no clear definition for a freebie. We badly need a definition that distinguishes between a freebie and a welfare scheme.

No clear definition yet

Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a former Delhi BJP spokesperson, filed a petition about Freebies in the Supreme Court in January. The petition sought the court’s intervention to direct the EC to deregister political parties that promise “irrational freebies”, financed with public money, before elections. He argued that it is a threat to “democratic values” and is akin to bribing the voters.

But, no one has a definition for a freebie. While it is still pending at the Supreme Court, neither the election commission nor Government has a definition.

Everyone has an opinion about what should be the definition of a freebie. But, It is not laid out in the constitution or law or as guidelines by SC or EC so that parties abide by it.

Everyone knows that Freebie is something that should lead to wasteful expenditure by neither improving the well-being of an individual nor contributing to GDP much.

In the past, EC did take a stand couple of times about the freebies by asking parties to respond about their poll promises. In 2016, it “censured” AIADMK and advised DMK to be “more circumspect”.

If the political term – “Freebie” doesn’t include free food, then what else it includes and doesn’t include in its definition? Education, Healthcare, Laptop, TV? Where and how do we draw the line? if a subsidy or a welfare scheme is wasted by the beneficiary, does it not become a freebie? The corollary is if the freebie is used productively, will it remain a freebie?

As of now May 2023, there is no clear definition for the freebie. We badly need one not only for holding the parties to account for their freebies but also to have a sensible and productive conversation. The discussion and debate about freebies can only continue if everyone is on the same page with the only one definition of the term – “freebies” .