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LettersIndian leaders promise free money in hunt for votes: but who will foot the bill?
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi, have both made financial promises to the country’s most impoverished people
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As the elections get closer in India, all parties are throwing discretion to the winds, and deploying every gimmick and ploy to seek votes. The contest to outdo each other in making promises of a wonderful new India is almost embarrassing.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party, is promising a minimum income guarantee of 72,000 rupees (US$1,043) per year to the bottom 20 per cent of impoverished Indians. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also promised an annual dole of 6,000 rupees per year to marginal farmers a few weeks ago.
The key question is: from where will the money come to make these large annual payouts? The job of the government should be to create employment and foster business and industry, so that people can work and make a living and a career. Political parties are promising the moon to the voters just to seek votes. When the elections are over, what will the picture be?
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Tax collections are a mere 16 per cent of the GDP of India. So how will the country fund all these election-time promises? We will have an era of fiscal deficits which will nourish inflation. Free money or dole payments only make people lazy and inefficient.
As an ordinary Indian citizen, I have paid my taxes faithfully for the last 45 years, but have never received any medical assistance, unemployment allowance or pension from the government whenever I have needed these. Such is the life of the lower middle class in India.
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Rajendra Aneja, Mumbai
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