Freebies in Andhra

PTI, Sat, Apr 4, 2009 at 13:00 IST
HYDERABAD: It is populism at its best or worst....

Direct cash transfer to the poor, distribution of free colour TVs, essential household items for Rs 100 and increasing the quantum of Rs 2 a kg rice and free power are only some of the doles announced by Andhra Pradesh's major parties like TDP, Congress and Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam in their election manifestos.
Once seen as a poster boy of economic reforms, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu has announced perhaps the mother of all doles: cash transfer to the poor, in the party manifesto unveiled yesterday.
Under the Cash Transfer Scheme (CTS), an amount of Rs 2,000 would be transferred per month to the account of every housewife of the "poorest of the poor" families, Rs 1,500 to the poor and Rs 1,000 to the middle classes.
Denying that the scheme is populist, Naidu asserted that it is aimed at removing economic imbalances, providing food security and improving the general health of the poor. The distribution of colour TVs, too, is not populist but intended to enable poor people have entertainment and gain knowledge, the former Chief Minister said.
Other doles announced by Naidu include 12-hour free power to agriculture sector, free healthcare to the poor and middle classes under the proposed NTR Integrated Health
Insurance Scheme in both government and private hospitals covering for all diseases and ailments.
Hoping to retain power on the strength of its performance during the last five years, the ruling Congress focused its attention on continuity in the implementation of the ongoing welfare and development programmes.
After storming to power on the crest of a populist wave in the 2004 elections, the Congress has been implementing a slew of welfare schemes and added some more to the list during the last one year. The party's manifesto, released by Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and state Congress President D Srinivas a few days ago, promised to continue free power supply to farmers, the Rs two per kg rice scheme, low interest loans to the poor, weaker section housing and irrigation projects under the `Jalayagnam' (irrigation mission) programme.
Congress also promised to hike the quantum of subsidised rice to poor households from four kg to six kg per person a month, increase free power supply from the present seven hours to nine hours per day, free education to the deserving students from LKG to PG and extend the benefits of scholarships to the needy in forward castes.