The Election Commission should bring freebies under the purview of the model code of conduct

Political leaders offering freebies to lure voters to capture power is quite common during election time. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) won a thumping majority in the last Delhi Assembly elections promising free water and electricity. Now it promises to supply the same to the people of Punjab if voted to power in the assembly elections due there next year.

In a democracy, political parties announce their policies and programmes in their manifestos which are guiding documents for governance if they come to power.  The opposition parties and civil society use it to assess the performance of the ruling party.

However, promising freebies from the state exchequer raises moral, ethical, and serious administrative and legal issues. The revenue is collected from taxpayers and set proceduresdo exist for using this money for the welfare of the people. Is it not a corrupt practice and loot of treasury to garner votes promising something for free when it requires money to procure? Competitive politics may see a party tomorrow promise free ration for all and there could come a time when the government’s revenues would be dedicated to only disbursing the freebies. This will have debilitating effects if political parties and the Election Commission of India do not intervene.

The freebie concept is already hitting the financial management of the country. Before the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 came into existence, forest areas were routinely encroached upon and forcibly occupied by people with political support for agricultural and housing purposes months before elections. The incumbent Chief Ministers would then promise regularisation of such lands and after elections, fulfill the promise. A substantial chunk of 4.5 million hectares of forests was bartered through regularisation of such encroachments. This continued after the 1980 law came into being as well but at a reduced pace. Over 52 lakh hectares of land is back with the forest department under the Forest Rights Act, of which encroached land constitutes a large portion.

These days the sops are in the form of cash subsidies at the cost of the economy.The Election Commission’s model code of conduct comes into force after elections are announced. However, as yet there is no embargo on political parties promising freebies. The ECI at the behest of the Supreme Court in August 2013 held a meeting with six national parties and 24 regional parties to impress upon them to stop announcing freebies as they do not respect the level playing fields between parties. The Commission wanted freebies to be brought under the ambit of the model code of conduct but none of the parties,except Bahujan Samaj Party, agreed to it.

If the freebie allurement is not stopped, people living in poor economic conditions may be lured into a political trap and that could ruin the economy of a country like Venezuela. The South American oil-rich country was quite prosperous till 1980 because of an oil price boom. Successive governments then began to offer everything free — from food to public transport free. The country, which imported 70 percent of its food, faced an economic crisis soon after oil prices started to fall. Corruption became rampant. The governments continued to waive off farm loans further damaging the economy. It took decades for it to recover, but never fully.

The elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India and it is their responsibility to ensure that free and fair elections are held. The freebies are just not available in today’s world as no country can sustain them. The voters are also happy if they get instant gratification like free electricity rather than an honest promise of safe drinking water and health or education. So, the politicians, especially the regional satraps, who want to grab power through impractical promises, lure people into the freebie trap.

The Election Commission must read the provisions of the Constitution and rather than taking the concurrence of parties, shouldbring freebies like free electricity under the purview of the model code of conduct. It should define what should be listed as freebies and what should be listed in manifestos — like free schooling and free health which cannot be listed as freebies. Whenever the executive has failed to run the administration effectively, the Indian judiciary has intervened for course correction through the Public Interest Litigation route. The Commission must act decisively or otherwise, the Supreme Court should review its direction of 2013 and order total stoppage of freebies.

(The writer is Chairman, Centre for Resource Management and Environment. The views expressed are personal.)