A welfare architecture is more than just giveaways
On going beyond the revdi culture debate
India is a lower-middle income country where 800 million people depend on the government providing them free foodgrains for basic sustenance. While we need a comprehensive social welfare architecture, the current trend in the country is one of political parties announcing a diverse range of giveaways in cash or in kind. As part of election campaigns, governments make these announcements hoping to return to power and opposition parties do so hoping to unseat the former. An effective social welfare architecture needs a lot more in terms of policy and implementation – none of this can be built overnight.
Revdi culture
Around this time last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a stinging attack on the opposition parties in India – he accused them of perpetuating a revdi culture by giving away freebies to gain votes. The Supreme Court and the Election Commission both waded into the conversation with views that largely converged with the position the Prime Minister had taken.
Thirteen months is a long time in Indian politics. In the run-up to the Madhya Pradesh state assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its manifesto (Sankalp Patra), making a slew of promises to voters. These included an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat and paddy, houses for 13 lakh families, an increase in assistance through the Ladli Lakshmi Yojna to ₹2 lakh, extending the benefits of Ladli Behana Yojna to unmarried women with a monthly allowance that would go up to ₹3,000. Furthermore, the BJP promised 100 units of free electricity, gas cylinders to women at ₹450, and an unemployment stipend of ₹10,000, etc. The Prime Minister himself has just announced – in an election campaign rally – that the central government will continue to provide free ration to 800 million people for five more years under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kanyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY).
The BJP's manifesto for Madhya Pradesh mirrors the reality of the state of human development a decade into BJP’s rule at the centre and nearly two decades in the state. This of course is by no means a domain exclusive to the BJP, nor is this phenomenon restricted to Madhya Pradesh. The Congress party has, since some years now, made welfarism the central plank of its election campaigns. Political parties across the spectrum have now converged on the electoral strategy of announcing manifold schemes that transfer resources (in cash and in kind) directly to voters. And when PM Modi denounces this trend as revdi culture, he is using it only as a cynical political tool rather than presenting an alternate vision of pro-poor development. That is a shame.
The need to renew the social contract
The revdi culture debate does raise pertinent questions about the nature of the social contract between citizens and governments in India:
Do voters expect governments to deliver longer-term economic growth and the expanded opportunities that come with it?
Is the primary role of a government now seen as providing immediate relief and access to a limited set of products for free?
And what about the track that India had adopted of a rights-based approach to development?
It is easiest to answer the last question first – post-2014, the BJP government went about dismantling constitutional guaranteed rights, weakening MNREGA by choking the flow of funds and the Right to Information Act (RTI) by introducing procedural hurdles and harassing activists. And even though the government has kept MNREGA alive, its ideological disdain for an empowered citizenry resulted in a series of pet schemes that carried personalised branding to promote the Prime Minister himself. This has fetched the BJP repeated electoral success too. At the same time, with subdued economic growth and limited opportunities for individuals, voters come to rely on the government for immediate benefits – through cash, a house, a gas cylinder and the like. Over time, this allows governments off the hook from expectations such as creating jobs that can sustain families and their livelihoods, improving the quality of educational and health facilities, of bringing about structural reforms that expand economic opportunities for farmers, etc.
Towards a comprehensive welfare architecture
To some degree, electoral giveaways reflect realpolitik, but it is only one part of a larger welfare agenda that India desperately needs. Alongside, it is important to reflect on the failure of the social contract between citizens and governments in India today.
An effective welfare architecture is one that combines an effective social safety net for the vulnerable sections of the population with policies that enable them to realise their potential, overcoming constraints posed by their economic and social disadvantages. It is not just about foodgrains or cash – it relies on enhancing access to quality healthcare and education, equitable access to economic opportunities, and fostering conditions for an active citizenry. It is about improving implementation of government programmes, and focusing on institutions at the grassroots to deliver services.
Election manifestos for the ongoing state elections captures one component of the welfare agenda we need as a majority of the population grapples with economic uncertainties. It also reflects political parties being pragmatic in their assessment of what will work in an election campaign. But that’s only the beginning – a lot more remains to be done if governments want to implement an effective social welfare architecture. This is the new social contract that India needs.