We need fiscal prudence during elections

FFinancial prudence never seems to take precedence in elections in India. This came to light once again in Tamil Nadu last week, when Chief Minister MK Stalin surprised 1.31 crore women under Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai (KMUT), a universal basic income scheme for poor women, by transferring ₹5,000 each to them.

This amount includes ‘special summer allowance’ of ₹1,000 and ₹2,000 each for the months of February, March and April. The ‘special summer assistance’, the first of its kind in the state, has won praise from DMK’s allies but received criticism from the Opposition. Mr. Stalin also said that the government would increase the monthly amount to ₹2,000 if his party remains in power in the Assembly elections, likely to be held in April.

The Tamil Nadu government spent ₹6,550 crore in one go. Mr. Stalin’s move comes at a time when the DMK has accused the Center of being biased against Tamil Nadu in the release of funds. At a meeting in New Delhi last month, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu told the Center that ₹3,548 crore due under the Samagra Shiksha scheme for 2024-25 and 2025-26 has not been released. He also expressed concern that rationalization of Goods and Services Tax rates would lead to a revenue loss of ₹ 10,000 crore to the State this year.

The pre-poll glut is not new in Tamil Nadu or other states. In this respect, no party in India is different from the other. During the Interim Budget 2019-20, the BJP-led Central government announced to give ₹6,000 per annum to farmers under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. The program has no connection with the performance of farmers. It emerged in February 2019, nearly two months before voting began for the Lok Sabha elections.

After winning only 17 out of 48 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra in June 2024, the Mahayuti government in the state launched a women-centric plan. It was modeled on the lines of Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna Yojana, which played a significant role in tipping the scales in favor of the BJP during the 2023 Assembly elections. Besides announcing that it will eventually increase the benefit under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100, the Maharashtra government has also released two installments in one go before the State goes to polls in November 2024. Mahayuti won the elections.

Before the Assembly elections in Bihar last year, the Prime Minister launched an employment scheme, the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana. The government transferred ₹10,000 each to 75 lakh women. The NDA, comprising JD(U) and BJP, was given another term.

In mid-January 2026, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced the party’s first set of guarantees for the Assembly elections. He assured the voters that the AIADMK would expand the monthly benefit scheme for women if voted to power. He promised to provide ₹2,000 per month to the female head of every ration card-holding family.

Defending his government’s latest move, Mr. Stalin claimed that it “hampered the BJP’s attempts” to stop the monthly aid distribution under the KMUT scheme before the Assembly elections. Mr Palaniswami accused the Chief Minister of suffering from “fear” of losing elections after making the State “unsafe” for “girls, women and senior citizens”. He has consistently alleged that the DMK regime has failed to deliver on its promise of universal coverage for the cash assistance scheme for women.

The culture of freebies or ‘welfare schemes’ is deeply ingrained in India’s political system. There seems to be no end to these schemes being launched in Tamil Nadu or other states. This is despite the fact that the effectiveness of these programs, even in terms of electoral gains, varies from one State to another. What is needed is not the expansion of social assistance programs but their effective and targeted management over a period of time. They cannot be rights without measurable consequences or financial discipline. It would be fair to expect Tamil Nadu, a State that has consistently been at the forefront of governance, to pave the way for a regime committed to this principle.