{"id":248483,"date":"2023-06-17T20:27:31","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T14:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=248483"},"modified":"2023-06-17T20:27:31","modified_gmt":"2023-06-17T14:57:31","slug":"paying-for-a-safety-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/paying-for-a-safety-net\/","title":{"rendered":"Paying for a safety net"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>: The post is based on the article\u00a0\u201cPaying for a safety net<\/strong>\u201d published in Business Standard <\/strong>on\u00a017th<\/sup> June 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus: <\/strong>GS 2 \u2013 Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Relevance: <\/strong>concerns with freebies<\/strong><\/p>\n

News<\/strong>: Government and politicians are now moving with the old approach to gain votes because economic reforms have failed to achieve the desired results.<\/p>\n

What old approach is being adopted by the government?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The government is moving towards the old approach of offering subsidies and cash incentives. This strategy has proven effective in past elections.<\/p>\n

For instance,<\/strong> M G Ramachandran expanded a limited programme of free midday meals in schools.<\/p>\n

This improved nutrition, better school attendance, and therefore improved literacy, even a lower birth rate. It is now a nationwide programme.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the ruling party in recent years has adopted a strategy due to the failure of its macro promises like doubling farmers\u2019 incomes, or a $5 trillion economy.<\/p>\n

As a result, it has emphasized its own welfare initiatives, including<\/strong> cash payments to farmers, free foodgrain, free toilets, housing subsidies, and free medical insurance.<\/p>\n

Even the Congress has copied the Aam Aadmi Party in the recent Karnataka election by promising monthly payments to jobless diploma-holders and graduates, financial assistance to female heads of households, free electricity, and free grain.<\/p>\n

Why are the governments moving towards offering freebies?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Offering freebies attract votes<\/strong>. Freebies are being looked at as an alternative to job creation, improvement in education, etc<\/strong>. This approach serves as a way for the democratic system to manage economic distress and social unrest.<\/p>\n

Therefore, India is moving in an unplanned and haphazard way towards setting up a social safety net, with the free provision of grain and medical insurance; public works programmes to create work, etc.<\/p>\n

What are the concerns with freebies?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Click Here to Read<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

What can be the way ahead?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Freebies raises the question of whether India is building a productive economy substantial enough to generate the necessary tax revenue to sustain a welfare system.<\/p>\n

This is because the tax-to-GDP ratio has shown little improvement<\/strong> despite a significant increase in per capita income over the past three decades. This in turn has increased public debt, consuming around 40% of tax revenue.<\/p>\n

Therefore, there is an urgent need for public debate on this central political-economy question. The NITI Aayog or a private think tank should take the lead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post is based on the article\u00a0\u201cPaying for a safety net\u201d published in Business Standard on\u00a017th June 2023. Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes. Relevance: concerns with freebies News: Government and politicians are now moving with the… Continue reading Paying for a safety net<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[10503,212],"class_list":["post-248483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-business-standard","tag-gs-paper-2","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704922350},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248483\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}