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| Edited By: DNA |Source: DNA |Updated: Aug 29, 2019, 07:05 AM IST
Come election time and the largesse starts flowing. This time it is Delhi chief minister, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal, who is opening up the coffers. With elections to the Delhi Assembly due early next year, the poll bugle has been sounded.
Kejriwal has announced a one-time waiver of water bill arrears of Rs 2,500 crore, which he believes will help him reap political benefits. This announcement follows the move to give free rides to women in buses and metro trains, for which the Delhi government has earmarked Rs 290 crore. Likewise in the power sector, the Delhi government has waived electricity charges up to 200 units, which will benefit around 26 lakh consumers in the national capital.
This decision will set the government back by about Rs 1,800- Rs 2,000 crore per year. While announcing the scheme, the AAP government stated that if a household consumes 201 to 400 units, it will receive a 50% subsidy on power charges. Incidentally, Delhi has the lowest power tariff in the country. While Kejriwal is following what other ruling party politicians do when confronted with elections, there can be no doubt that a blanket waiver leads to frustration in disciplined citizens, who play by the rules and cough up taxes needed for running the government.
It particularly applies to the national capital, which has the highest per capita income in the country and where the government can easily do without offering freebies in power, transport and water. The drawback appears particularly glaring when considered that the government spends nearly its entire budget on subsidies and salaries, leaving very little for developmental work.
According to one estimate, the government spends around Rs 10,000- Rs 11,000 crore on subsidies every year. Such reckless populism is not going to do any good, but why blame Kejriwal when just about every politician is doing the same?
