The ICC world cup which was taking limelight for past month ended with Team India winning the world cup. The TN assembly elections which were at back burner for past week or so came back to lime light. Both DMK and AIADMK manifesto filled with freebies. I am not a believer and supporter of freebies. I view this as bribe to get votes. I would prefer to vote based on Good Governance and future wellness of the state in mind. We will review the DMK manifesto in this post.
DMK Manifesto is 66 pages in length. The pages 42-45 provides the highlights of their policies. The first 10 pages provides the back ground of DMK and other regular propaganda. The pages 46 through 66 is past achievements and Annexures. I focused on the highlights and referred to the appropriate pages for additional information.
Loans to women self groups: The loan amount to this group will be increased to 4 lakhs from 2.5 lakhs out of which 2 lakhs will be subsidy. Political parties figured out they can leverage these women in election time and secure their votes. . This will be 5000-10000 per women. This is socializing the corruption
Low rental housing scheme This another bad policy without addressing the fundamental problem. The real estate boom makes housing unaffordable. This growth is not sustainable. The Housing Board was created to address this problem and we need to see where we went wrong and correct it rather than creating a new problem.
One kilo of iodized salt every month through PDS: I am shocked to see this. Is this acceptance by government that inflation is so high and salt is not affordable? I am not a big fan of freebies and it is a bad policy.
Maternity leave will be increased from 3 months to 4 months: I am not sure whether it is applicable to all employees or only for who work in Government. I think we should stay with 3 months and provide up to one year non-paid leave if the women choose to. This can be applied to every one working in Tamil Nadu.
Free bus pass for senior citizens: Government transport corporations are running in losses. The estimated loss is over 1000 crores and it is struggling to perform maintenance and buy diesel. This is going to add stress to the system. Rather public will be happy to pay for good service at reasonable price. I am positive this free pass will be limited to specific services by tricking people. Another Election gimmick?
Increase the income of people who are below poverty line to above poverty line: This is false promise in the back drop of freebies. Given the policy of the DMK government, this is absurd. The only way they can achieve this with current policy is distribution of DMK leaders wealth to the people who are below the poverty level.
Waive non-farm loans and their interest in stages : This is another bad policy. This will create a culture where people don't want to pay back the loans hoping that Government will come to their rescue. This also penalizes the good citizens who pay the loan back on time. This should be used only in extraordinary situation and it became common thing which is dangerous policy.
Extend the free electricty to coconut farm and horticulture crop: Framers will be happy to pay if they get the uninterrupted service and service for new request is processed in timely manner without expecting bribe. This is one another bad policy.
Conversion of agricultural land to other purposes will be prevented without permission: We have enough laws to stop them. Inspite of it, this happens due to corruption and political influence. Adding new rule will facilitate corruption further. Is there any hidden agenda behind it as MK family accumulated so much land?
Continuously strive to alleviate Eelam problem: DMK government already watched one of worst genocide happening in eelam. They haven't done anything to stop except writing letters and sending telegrams in spite of being part of the Central Government. This is nothing more than political statement.
Find a solution to stop atrocious usury (Kandhu vatti): The ADMK government passed the strong laws to stop this. There is no need for new law. It is matter of administering law and order. Also educating the public.
Kalaignar Housing Family Scheme subsidy increased: The subsidy of housing scheme will be increased from Rs 75000 to one lakh. Government could have achieved the similar things through TNHB (Tamil Nadu Hosuing Board) with some subsidy and loans. The current system forces people to come up with the balance money which will be difficult. Officials and DMK functionaries are milking the innocent poor to deliver the benefit which could have been avoided through TNHB by defining proper rules and eligibility criteria.
35 kilos of rise for poorest of poor: In the past five years we have seen smuggling of the rise to neighboring states and sold it in black market. It is failed policy and should not be extended. This will help smugglers and politicians.
Free Grinder or Mixer: This is hang over from last election. Free color TV promise during the last election put them into power. So DMK wanted to buy vote for Grinder or Mixer. ADMK also promised similar things to counter DMK. The bottom line is it's a bad policy and this money should be used for infrastructure & growth.
Benefit increase to the schemes: The DMK promised to increase the old people pension, financial assistance to pregnant women and marriage assistance. These are the couple of things which make sense given the status of women in the society particularly in lower end of economic scale.
Conclusion: I read through the complete manifesto couple of times in search of any growth related policy. None is found. The promises in the manifesto are intended to create popularity and get back to power using cash/benefit for vote. Absolutely no policy towards growth of the state or uplifting of the common people. This will make sure all the revenue will be spent on the freebies and reckless policies. It will ensure Government will borrow money for each and every growth related project putting undue stress on treasury. We can assured that the TN debt will cross 2 Lakh crore in next five years and state will be in the brink of bankruptcy.
DMK Manifesto is 66 pages in length. The pages 42-45 provides the highlights of their policies. The first 10 pages provides the back ground of DMK and other regular propaganda. The pages 46 through 66 is past achievements and Annexures. I focused on the highlights and referred to the appropriate pages for additional information.
Loans to women self groups: The loan amount to this group will be increased to 4 lakhs from 2.5 lakhs out of which 2 lakhs will be subsidy. Political parties figured out they can leverage these women in election time and secure their votes. . This will be 5000-10000 per women. This is socializing the corruption
Low rental housing scheme This another bad policy without addressing the fundamental problem. The real estate boom makes housing unaffordable. This growth is not sustainable. The Housing Board was created to address this problem and we need to see where we went wrong and correct it rather than creating a new problem.
One kilo of iodized salt every month through PDS: I am shocked to see this. Is this acceptance by government that inflation is so high and salt is not affordable? I am not a big fan of freebies and it is a bad policy.
Maternity leave will be increased from 3 months to 4 months: I am not sure whether it is applicable to all employees or only for who work in Government. I think we should stay with 3 months and provide up to one year non-paid leave if the women choose to. This can be applied to every one working in Tamil Nadu.
Free bus pass for senior citizens: Government transport corporations are running in losses. The estimated loss is over 1000 crores and it is struggling to perform maintenance and buy diesel. This is going to add stress to the system. Rather public will be happy to pay for good service at reasonable price. I am positive this free pass will be limited to specific services by tricking people. Another Election gimmick?
Increase the income of people who are below poverty line to above poverty line: This is false promise in the back drop of freebies. Given the policy of the DMK government, this is absurd. The only way they can achieve this with current policy is distribution of DMK leaders wealth to the people who are below the poverty level.
Waive non-farm loans and their interest in stages : This is another bad policy. This will create a culture where people don't want to pay back the loans hoping that Government will come to their rescue. This also penalizes the good citizens who pay the loan back on time. This should be used only in extraordinary situation and it became common thing which is dangerous policy.
Extend the free electricty to coconut farm and horticulture crop: Framers will be happy to pay if they get the uninterrupted service and service for new request is processed in timely manner without expecting bribe. This is one another bad policy.
Conversion of agricultural land to other purposes will be prevented without permission: We have enough laws to stop them. Inspite of it, this happens due to corruption and political influence. Adding new rule will facilitate corruption further. Is there any hidden agenda behind it as MK family accumulated so much land?
Continuously strive to alleviate Eelam problem: DMK government already watched one of worst genocide happening in eelam. They haven't done anything to stop except writing letters and sending telegrams in spite of being part of the Central Government. This is nothing more than political statement.
Find a solution to stop atrocious usury (Kandhu vatti): The ADMK government passed the strong laws to stop this. There is no need for new law. It is matter of administering law and order. Also educating the public.
Kalaignar Housing Family Scheme subsidy increased: The subsidy of housing scheme will be increased from Rs 75000 to one lakh. Government could have achieved the similar things through TNHB (Tamil Nadu Hosuing Board) with some subsidy and loans. The current system forces people to come up with the balance money which will be difficult. Officials and DMK functionaries are milking the innocent poor to deliver the benefit which could have been avoided through TNHB by defining proper rules and eligibility criteria.
35 kilos of rise for poorest of poor: In the past five years we have seen smuggling of the rise to neighboring states and sold it in black market. It is failed policy and should not be extended. This will help smugglers and politicians.
Free Grinder or Mixer: This is hang over from last election. Free color TV promise during the last election put them into power. So DMK wanted to buy vote for Grinder or Mixer. ADMK also promised similar things to counter DMK. The bottom line is it's a bad policy and this money should be used for infrastructure & growth.
Benefit increase to the schemes: The DMK promised to increase the old people pension, financial assistance to pregnant women and marriage assistance. These are the couple of things which make sense given the status of women in the society particularly in lower end of economic scale.
Conclusion: I read through the complete manifesto couple of times in search of any growth related policy. None is found. The promises in the manifesto are intended to create popularity and get back to power using cash/benefit for vote. Absolutely no policy towards growth of the state or uplifting of the common people. This will make sure all the revenue will be spent on the freebies and reckless policies. It will ensure Government will borrow money for each and every growth related project putting undue stress on treasury. We can assured that the TN debt will cross 2 Lakh crore in next five years and state will be in the brink of bankruptcy.
