Venkaiah Naidu calls for wider debate on 'freebies' during polls

VP Venkaiah Naidu said resource base and their best use separates the developing economies from the developed

As various governments dole out 'freebies' to keep voters under its spell during election seasons, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday sought a wider debate on 'freebies' to ensure "most effective utilisation" of scarce resources.

Naidu said that resource base and their best use separates the developing economies from the developed while urging the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament, which is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its existence, to examine this aspect to enable wider public discussion.

Lauding the role of the PAC, he said that its constant pursuit of action taken by the government creates a "fear of scrutiny" and this results in systemic improvement and prevention of "financial murders", which are large scale irregularities and wasteful expenditure.

Addressing a function here in Central Hall, which was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind, the Vice President said that the "wise, faithful and economical" utilisation of the monies granted by the Parliament is spent for realising the stated socio-economic outcomes.

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"We are all alive to the present scenario of the governments indulging in doling out freebies for obvious reasons. While ensuring the welfare and social security of the needy people is an important obligation of the Governments, it is time that there is a wider debate on harmonizing the welfare and development objectives," Naidu said.

"Expenditures must be carefully balanced so that both the short-term and long-term development objectives get equal attention. Since PAC has to examine the effectiveness of resource use in terms of socio-economic outcomes, it may be in order for the Committee to examine the issue of balancing these two objectives for wider consideration," he said.

When it comes to people getting benefits, Naidu said was of the view that there should be "no line, no queue, no waiting list, no meetings, no greetings, no shaking of hands and no doing in between hands" and referred to the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT), which has led to "substantial savings".

Naidu emphasised that the PAC examines the expenditure already incurred and its reports are further amplified by the MPs, which lead to questions and debates in Parliament besides getting media attention. It is a dream of every MP to be on PAC given its role and importance, he said.

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He urged the PAC to reinvent itself based on the experience of the last 100 years to more effectively ensure financial discipline in the context of the central government’s budgetary expenditure increasing from a mere Rs 197 crore in the first Budget to Rs 35 lakh crore now, marking an increase of 17,766 times. This makes monitoring by the PAC "much more complex and challenging", he said.

Lauding Narendra Modi government for "efficient utilisation" of resources besides "checking corruption and improving governance", he said, "it may not be out of place to note on this occasion that the government...has over the last seven years undertaken a wide range of initiatives to ensure effective utilisation of limited resources. One illustration is the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) which has resulted in substantial savings. Corruption has been substantially eradicated and spirited efforts were launched to improve governance at various levels."

Recalling former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's remark that out of every rupee spent, only 16 paise reached the beneficiary, he called for a fresh assessment on wasteful expenditure and underutilisation of scarce resources.

At the function, he also called for a minimum of 100 sittings of Parliament every year and an adequate number of sittings of State Assemblies to enable detailed discussions on a range of issues. Parties should take a consistent stand instead of speaking differently while in opposition and in the government, he said.

He also stressed improving the functioning of Parliament panels, as they enable bi-partisan discussions rising above the political divide. "Discipline, time sense and ethics should guide all those in public life," he added.

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