3 months ago
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Fiscal prudence ne'er seems to instrumentality precedence during elections successful India. Last week, this was demonstrated yet again successful Tamil Nadu erstwhile Chief Minister M.K. Stalin amazed 1.31 crore women covered nether the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai (KMUT) — a cosmopolitan basal income strategy for mediocre women — by transferring ₹5,000 to each of them.
The magnitude included ₹1,000 each for the months of February, March, and April, on with a ‘special summertime assistance’ of ₹2,000. The ‘special summertime assistance’, the archetypal of its benignant successful the State, drew appreciation from the allies of the DMK and disapproval from the Opposition. Mr. Stalin besides said that successful the lawsuit that his enactment retained powerfulness successful the Assembly elections, apt to beryllium held successful April, the authorities would summation the monthly magnitude to ₹2,000.
At 1 stroke, the Tamil Nadu authorities incurred an expenditure of ₹6,550 crore. Mr. Stalin’s determination comes astatine a clip erstwhile the DMK has been accusing the Centre of being biased against Tamil Nadu successful releasing funds. At a gathering successful New Delhi past month, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu told the Centre that ₹3,548 crore owed nether the Samagra Shiksha strategy for 2024-25 and 2025-26 had not been released. He besides expressed interest that complaint rationalisation of the Goods and Services Tax would pb to a gross nonaccomplishment of ₹10,000 crore to the State this year.
The pre-poll bonanza is not caller successful Tamil Nadu oregon successful different States. On this score, nary enactment successful India is antithetic from the other. During the Interim Budget for 2019-20, the BJP-led Central authorities announced ₹6,000 a twelvemonth to farmers nether the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. The strategy has nary nexus to the show of agriculturists. It came into being successful February 2019, conscionable astir 2 months earlier polling began for the Lok Sabha elections.
In June 2024, aft securing lone 17 retired of 48 seats successful the Lok Sabha elections successful Maharashtra, the Mahayuti authorities successful the State rolled retired a women-centric scheme. It was modelled on the lines of Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna Yojana, which played a large relation successful tilting the scales successful favour of the BJP during the 2023 Assembly elections. Apart from announcing that it would summation assistance nether the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana yet from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100, the Maharashtra authorities released 2 installments astatine 1 spell earlier the State went to polls successful November 2024. The Mahayuti won the elections.
Last year, earlier the Assembly elections successful Bihar, the Prime Minister launched the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, an employment scheme. The authorities transferred ₹10,000 each to 75 lakh women. The NDA comprising the JD(U) and the BJP was fixed 1 much term.
In mid-January 2026, AIADMK wide caput Edappadi K. Palaniswami released the party’s archetypal acceptable of guarantees for the Assembly elections. He assured the electorate that the AIADMK, if elected to power, would grow the monthly assistance strategy for women. He promised to supply ₹2,000 per period to the pistillate caput of each ration card-holding family.
In defence of his government’s latest move, Mr. Stalin contended that it had “thwarted the attempts of the BJP” to halt the organisation of monthly assistance nether the KMUT strategy earlier the Assembly elections. Mr. Palaniswami accused the Chief Minister of suffering from the “fear” of losing elections aft having made the State “insecure” for “girls, women, and elder citizens.” He has consistently alleged that the DMK authorities broke its committedness of cosmopolitan sum for the women’s currency assistance scheme.
The civilization of freebies oregon ‘welfare schemes’ is profoundly entrenched successful the Indian governmental system. There seems to beryllium nary extremity to the motorboat of these schemes, whether successful Tamil Nadu oregon different States. This is contempt the information that the efficacy of these schemes varies from 1 State to another, adjacent successful presumption of electoral gains. What is required is not the proliferation of payment schemes, but their businesslike and targeted medication for a defined period. They cannot beryllium entitlements without measurable outcomes oregon fiscal discipline. It would lone beryllium just to expect Tamil Nadu — a State that has consistently been astatine the forefront of governance — to pave the mode for a authorities committed to this principle.
