WHO SAID WHAT ON FREEBIES

NARENDRA MODI, Prime Minister of India “If there is selfishness in politics, then anyone can come and announce to give free petrol and diesel. Such steps will take away the rights of our children, and prevent the country from becoming self-reliant. Due to such selfish policies, the burden on honest taxpayers of the country will also increase” SUPREME COURT OF INDIA “We cannot prevent political parties from making promises. The question is what constitutes right promises? Can we describe promise of free education as a freebie? Can drinking water, minimum essential units of powers etc. be described as freebies? Can consumer products and free electronics be described as welfare? The concern right now is what is the right way of spending public money” NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, Finance Minister “You may promise something... but make sure you understand the fiscal strength of your state and having promised it during the election, you won, you come back, ensure that you fulfil it because you have given a word and how, by making sure that your budget will have a provision for it” BHAGWANT S. MANN CM, Punjab NAVEEN PATNAIK CM, Odisha MANOHAR LAL CM, Haryana ASHOK GEHLOT CM, Rajasthan medicines and tests in government hospitals, and free IPD up to Rs 10 lakh... Along with some relief in electricity bills, these measures are to empower people” SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN CM, Madhya Pradesh culture means that just to get votes, a competition begins wherein one party says, ‘I will give a fridge,’ the other says, ‘I will give a TV’... this is not right” Y.S. JAGAN MOHAN REDDY, CM, Andhra BHUPESH BAGHEL CM, Chhattisgarh

“I want to ask Pradhan Mantri saab: we are giving facilities out of the tax paid by people and you are calling them revdis? You are waiving Rs 10 lakh crore debt of your friends, what is that?”

“Whether it’s our Kalia Yojana, Mission Shakti or Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana or rice at Re 1 a kilo, all these programmes have empowered people”

“They are making people lazy by distributing freebies... This ‘sit down policy’ of the Opposition is a resisting force in PM Modi’s dream of Aatmanirbhar India”

“It is a shame that PM calls social welfare measures revdis. I am proud that we are giving pensions to one crore people, have free OPD and

“Revdi

Pradesh

“Programmes implemented only to lure voters can be termed freebies, but painting schemes of vast socioeconomic importance implemented to alleviate distress with the same brush is an insult to the constitutional mandate”

“What is seen as a freebie for one set of people may be a necessary social support system for another group. The definition of freebie can’t come out of sheer

convenience. Our government is not engaged in the BJP-started freebie business”

M.K. STALIN CM, Tamil Nadu

“In a welfare state, free services are introduced with an intent to secure social order and economic justice under Article 38 of the Constitution, to minimise the inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities”

ARVIND KEJRIWAL CM, Delhi, and AAP convenor

“Providing facilities to the people for free will not cause an economic crisis. But there will be an economic crisis by giving free benefits of lakhs of crores of rupees to friends”

KAMAL NATH Congress leader and former CM, Madhya Pradesh

“If you are giving the industry a handout, that’s a freebie, but something given to those below the poverty line or close to the poverty line, how can that be a freebie? They too need to run their house”

K. CHANDRASHEKAR RAO CM, Telangana

“The Centre is insulting the states and the people by branding welfare schemes as freebies”

SURESH KHANNA Finance Minister, Uttar Pradesh

“Whether it is youth or women, our effort is to empower and make them independent rather than survive on doles”

VIJAY KUMAR CHOUDHARY Finance minister, Bihar

“In economic terms, when you support the underprivileged in fulfilling their basic needs like electricity subsidy and water, it is social welfare and not freebies”

AMIT MITRA Ex-finance minister, West Bengal

“Let’s disabuse this notion that everyone is getting freebies. These are not freebies but a part of the macro economic process. In terms of social spending as a percentage of GDP, developed countries average 30 per cent. India, including states, averages just 7.7 per cent. The reason for high social spending is to stimulate demand through consumer spending”