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Saturday, September 13, 2025
TopicFreebies

Topic: Freebies

Vote-buying encourages graft, hurts rule of law, finds study. And it’s getting worse in India

‘Vote-buying’ has increased significantly in India since 2010, according to the authors of the study, which is due to be published in the peer-reviewed journal World Development.

Not ‘freebies’ –Tamil Nadu has given India a market-friendly Dravidian welfare model

As the ‘freebie’ debate again reaches the Supreme Court, Indian states should get to decide how to best use their resources for welfare.

‘Freebies not bribes but shake root of fair polls’ — what SC said in 2013 order it plans to revisit

SC in 2013 held that promises of freebies in election manifestos are not bribery or corruption. CJI NV Ramana agrees to constitute a bench to re-examine the judgment.

Revadi jibe shows Modi govt letting its insecurities do the talking, not economics

Why exactly should the Prime Minister be worried about the welfare model of an opposition party that barely controls two state governments?

In the debate over freebies, India is forgetting it traded rule of law for welfare services

India's want for freebies comes from envy of European welfare countries. But the govt must fix the law first.

Curbs on poll speeches over ‘freebies’ won’t fix fiscal deficit, AAP tells SC

Restrictions on electoral speech would be unconstitutional & court-appointed expert panel on 'freebies' should focus on govts' budgetary allocations, AAP says in submission to SC.

‘Abused for welfare schemes’: How AAP is trying to fight BJP after Modi’s ‘revdi’ remark

On 16 July, Modi ‘cautioned’ people against freebies. AAP has since been trying to turn the tables saying that the BJP had a problem with its free education and healthcare schemes.

Electricity or schools? Roads or hospitals? Why it isn’t easy for Modi to fix ‘freebies’

So used are Indians to handouts that they will opt for doles instead of measures that can help in the future. But, the thumb rule is not to overspend beyond one's means.

‘We are cracking down’— how Modi govt plans to make it tougher for states to fund freebies

The Narendra Modi government is looking at ways to check states’ spending on handouts like free electricity and rations. The first step is to tighten the noose on state borrowings.

On Camera

The key difference between India and China’s response to Gen-Z protests in Nepal

China is desperate to keep Communist Nepal ally intact. India must worry.

What’s behind bond yields’ logic-defying spike? The market’s concern over the future

While bond yields tend to fall amid low inflation & interest rate cuts, market experts say they’ve been rising due to concerns over tax collections, fiscal deficit & potential impact of US tariffs.

Navy gets first Tata-made Spanish 3D surveillance radar for its warships, 19 more to come

It is one of the most advanced long-range air defence and anti-missile radars. It has been acquired under an about USD 145-million deal signed in 2020.

Punjab is fast becoming the new Northeast. And there’s a message in it for Modi

In its toughest time in decades because of floods, Punjab would’ve expected PM Modi to visit. If he has the time for a Bihar tour, why not a short visit to next-door Punjab?