Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced a slew of sops over the past few months, with an eye on elections later this year.
The sops, government officials estimate, will cost around тВ╣20,000 crore a year. The Congress has claimed that these sops will leave the state тАЬbankruptтАЭ by the time election results are announced in December this year. Madhya Pradesh has around тВ╣3 lakh crore of debt on its books.
For instance, the state has offered тВ╣1,000 per month to every woman from a poor family, тВ╣25,000 for girl students to pursue higher education, a тВ╣400 hike in monthly pension to the elderly and a тВ╣8,000 per month internship for some young people.
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The CM has also relaunched the Sambhal Scheme 2.0 for the unorganized sector that provides for free electricity, waives unpaid electricity bills and offers тВ╣5,000 for cremation. Before the 2018 assembly polls, Chouhan launched the Sambal Scheme, which was scrapped by the Congress government led by Kamal Nath in 2019.
State governments tend to announce sops to woo voters before the assembly elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been critical of freebies , terming them тАЬrevdiтАЭ, a kind of sweetmeat popular in parts of north India, triggering a debate whether the sops really empower deprived sections. Political parties including the Aam Aadmi Party have termed pre-poll sops as a way to financially empower deprived sections of the society.
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FREEBIES GALORE
On January 29, Chouhan announced the Ladli Behna Scheme of тВ╣1,000 per month for non-income tax payee women with a financial burden of тВ╣12,000 crore per annum, targeting an estimated 12 million women. State government officials added that depending on demand, the allocation for this scheme could be increased.
On January 6, he announced Mukhyamantri Land Rights SchemeтАЭ to provide free plots worth тВ╣5,000 crore to landless people. In the first part, 35,000 plots worth тВ╣400 crore were distributed to landless people in Tikamgarh and Singrauli in mid-January.
To beat rising building costs, the state mining department is coming up with a scheme to provide free sand to beneficiaries of the PM Housing Scheme. тАЬThe cost of this scheme is yet to be evaluated,тАЭ said a senior officer of the mining department who asked not to be named
In November last year, the government announced a тВ╣8,000 a month internship for 4600 young people for six months.
And in the past three months, Chouhan has reintroduced three schemes тАУSambal 2.0, Ladli Laxmi 2.0 and MukhyaMantri Teerth Darshan Scheme.
The three schemes, originally launched in 2018, helped the BJP cross the 100-seat mark in the 230-member assembly in the last election, analysts said. To be sure, it was the Congress that formed the government, but following the resignation of 22 of its legislators in early 2020, Chouhan returned to power. Barring those 15 months, the BJP has been in power in the state since 2003.
Under Sambal 2.0, a family gets тВ╣5,000 for funerals, тВ╣2 lakh as life and тВ╣4 lakh as accident insurance and disability assistance up to тВ╣2 lakh. тАЬThe Sambal scheme is to provide financial assistance from birth till death of labourers of the unorganised sector,тАЭ said a labour department official who asked not to be named. The government expects to cover 15 million workers under this scheme which will cost over тВ╣700 crore.
FINANCIAL BURDEN
According to an estimate by the stateтАЩs finance department , the sops will put an additional burden of close to тВ╣20,000 crore on the state annually. тАЬThe exact numbers would be shared in the budget to be presented later this month,тАЭ a finance department official said, asking not to be named.
тАЬInstead of providing employment opportunities, the state government is providing freebies. On one side, the state government is selling its assets for generating revenue and on the other, these freebies are being given. We understand that giving money to the deprived is important for development of certain sectors but it shouldnтАЩt be done by increasing state debt,тАЭ said Rakesh Diwan, a social sector expert.
Jayantilal Bhandari, a finance expert pointed out that the debt availed by the state is within prescribed limits. тАЬMost of the loans were taken for infrastructure development so it wonтАЩt leave much impact on the economy,тАЭ he added. According to him, some of the schemes, such as the one focused on women and the internships will boost the economy by empowering people.
Former minister and Congress MLA PC Sharma said that the BJP, which has been critical of freebies, has announced many in the state because it тАЬ has realised that they wonтАЩt тАЬ win the election.
A BJP spokesperson said the schemes will empower farmers and women. тАЬLike farmers, we are also empowering women. We are providing тВ╣10,000 to farmers under Kisan Samman Nidhi and will provide тВ╣12000 annually to women under Ladli Behna scheme. Congress leaders made fake promises to voters to come in power and thatтАЩs why they made an excuse of bankruptcy. MP is one of the fastest growing states (in India),тАЭ said Rajneesh Agrawal, BJP spokesperson.
