Arvind Kejriwal’s repeated attempts of misusing Delhi taxpayers’ funds for self-promotion in contravention of the Supreme Court’s guidelines displays their trickery and hypocrisy and further reduces Arvind Kejriwal's standing in public life.
AAP: Bribing its Way to Power
When parties promise freebies in their manifestos, they should mandatorily explain how they plan to finance them. The AAP has appropriated this business of offering freebies as a ‘patented’ solution to win elections.
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अतितृष्णा न कर्तव्या तृष्णां नैव परित्यजेत् ।
शनैः शनैश्च भोक्तव्यं स्वयं वित्तमुपार्जितम् ॥
Extreme yearning should be avoided without rejecting desire itself. One should steadily enjoy self-earned wealth in moderation.
Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya, income is 50 paise and expenses are a whole rupee. The ‘revadi’ culture adopted by Arvind Kejriwal and AAP mirrors this expression. The AAP has appropriated this business of offering freebies as a ‘patented’ solution to win elections. But one must realize that there are no free lunches in the world. Freebies are not free either. Resources for freebies are raised from the public itself through higher taxes or other means. It’s like putting money in your left pocket by taking it out from your right pocket. Freebies at the cost of taxpayers’ money disrupts state finances and throws governments into a debt spiral and will lead to a situation where states will not be able to provide basic amenities to people because of lack of funds.
The ‘revadi’ culture or the freebie model that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about is a direct attack on Arvind Kejriwal’s shortcut politics. AAP relied heavily on the freebies culture to win the election in 2015. Tasting success, they went on implementing the same model again during the next Delhi elections and during the Punjab elections. With no ideology, no program, no particular view on matters of great national importance, the problem that arises is how to lure voters. Arvind Kejriwal who started with a movement to change the politics of the country, now relies solely on freebies such as water, electricity, transport, WiFi and higher monthly stipends for imams and maulvis to win elections. To grab power, he is willing to ignore the substantial burden that his freebies cost.
Delhi:
In Delhi, institutions like the Delhi Jal Board, the Delhi Transportation Corporation and, of course, the power distribution companies are deep in debt. But this has not prevented the AAP from providing free electricity and water; or making travel in DTC buses free for women from all economic strata. This recklessness is a prime example of the ‘revadi’ culture. Eventually, the next generation of taxpayers will have to pay for this profligacy.
The consequences of providing free electricity are seen in the rising expenditures which have doubled in just seven years. While the expenditure on free electricity was Rs 1639 crore in 2015-16, it increased to Rs 2968 crore in 2021-22. The Power Department has now asked to provision Rs 3200 crore from the Delhi government for the power subsidy for 2022-23. The sad part is households consuming 0-100 units of electricity get a subsidy of about Rs 1,000 annually while those consuming 300-400 units get a subsidy of around Rs 9,000. Thus, the scheme appears to subsidize richer households over poor.
Similarly, the free bus travel only increased the debt of the Delhi Transport Corporation to Rs 1,750 crore. Overall, Delhi’s state’s exchequer’s loss in the two years increased 55 times. The same story is with the Delhi Jal Board, which was a money-making department a few years back. In the first three years of the Kejriwal government, the loss of Delhi Jal Board tripled from Rs 220.19 crores in 2015-16 to Rs 663 crores in 2018-19. Seven Delhi government companies have accumulated losses of Rs 31,724 crore.
The problem with AAP’s politics of free electricity and free water is that it is putting an unsustainable burden on the government finances, causing a reduction of funds for capacity building. This can be seen from AAP’s unfulfilled promises and Delhi’s rising debts. During AAP’s tenure Delhi’s debts rose by 17%. While Delhi’s debt when AAP took over was Rs 32,497.91 crore, it rose to Rs 38,019.61 crore in 2022. AAP’s promise of making Delhi debt free seems to be taking a wrong turn.
Punjab:
Punjab’s debt-GSDP ratio in 2021-22 is a painful 53.3% in contrast to the ceiling of 20% as agreed by the Centre and states of India. The state is now in a debt trap which is a situation where the government has to take loans to pay off even interest on current loans. The government has borrowed Rs 8,000 crore in 2 months just to pay interest on old loans. The AAP government has borrowed Rs 30,000 crore in just the first nine months of taking over the government in Punjab. The gross borrowings of Punjab are not even enough to meet its expenditure, leaving little scope for the state to spend on developmental works. Such is the plight of the state exchequer that there is not enough money even to pay the salaries of government employees. It is against this background of Punjab’s ever rising expenditure that AAP’s freebies need to be seen.
In the most recent Punjab Assembly Election, Kejriwal made a number of promises, including giving women Rs 1,000 per month and providing free electricity. If we calculate the cost incurred to the exchequer on account of only power subsidies, then it will be around Rs 27,000 crores. According to rough estimates if AAP’s promises of freebies are kept, Punjab would need at least Rs 5,000 crore every month.
Punjab has an annual budget of Rs 1.50 lakh crores while the total revenue receipts in this fiscal were only Rs 95,257 crores. Its debt now stands at a whopping Rs 3.05 lakh crores. A huge interest has to be paid on this debt each quarter. How will the AAP government trapped in a fund crunch then deliver what it has promised?
Conclusion:
Freebies are a waste of taxpayers’ money. They superficially address issues but rarely contribute to any progress. When parties promise freebies in their manifestos, they should mandatorily explain how they plan to finance them.
It is a universal experience that people appreciate efficiency over freebies. They don’t mind paying reasonable user charges for efficient services instead of being lulled on the promise of free services that are confined to a short duration. The crux of the problem with Arvind Kejriwal’s governance is he governs purely for the next election, not for the next generation. His only interest is to have a good time until his immense good luck lasts. Arvind Kejriwal needs to be forced to confront the deep flaws in this myopic approach to governance. The question is — will he reconcile with the reality and course correct, or will he double down and lead the states he rules deeper into an abyss.
When the political intent is just to be in power and not the transformation of the society, revadis come in handy to outplay failure in governance. The ‘revadi’ culture that Arvind Kejriwal has brought in ought to serve as a warning against cheap shortcuts to power. It cannot be a substitute for real development. The country must reject costly handouts that deplete India’s reserves and weaken her ability to compete globally.
Tags: Aam Aadmi Party
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