Cost of promises: on the Bihar election and poll-eve welfare measures

It is raining welfare in Bihar. Nothing surprising: the stakes are high for the ruling National Democratic Alliance in the approaching Assembly elections. According to recent announcements, household consumption of up to 125 units of electricity per month will be free, with effect from August 1 this year. This scheme will cover around 1.67 crore households. Under the Kutir Jyoti Yojana, the government will provide free rooftop solar installations for about 58 lakh Below Poverty Line families. The welfare hamper of the ruling coalition also includes a promise of 35% job reservation in all State government jobs for women, an increase in social security pension from ₹400 to ₹1,100, the creation of a Bihar Youth Commission, and more. A new internship support scheme offers between ₹4,000 and ₹6,000 a month to youth (18 to 28 years) for undertaking internships, and based on their educational qualifications. The plan is to start supporting 5,000 youth in the first year and scaling it up to cover one lakh beneficiaries over the next five years. To promote religious tourism, the State has announced a ₹882.87 crore redevelopment plan for Punaura Dham Janki Mandir, said to be the birthplace of Lord Rama’s wife Sita. Migrants from the State who live outside will receive government support to return home during festivals.

All this follows a familiar pattern of governments using welfare as an instrument of election-eve management of popular sentiment. The absence of any serious planning or vision behind such sporadic announcements is evident. They are often in response to the promises of a political rival. In Bihar, the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal has said that the Nitish Kumar government’s welfare catalogue is a forced reaction to its promises of similar measures if voted to power. Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Mahayuti government rolled out a cash transfer scheme for women which helped it win. Later, the new government pruned the list, admitting that there were undeserving beneficiaries. Free electricity schemes now exist in several States. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often questioned the rationale of ‘freebies’, but arbitrary new schemes continue to proliferate. In Bihar, the scramble among parties is also in the context of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s advancing age. His party, the Janata Dal (United), is smaller than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the election could further alter the dynamics of State coalition politics. The control of power had increasingly shifted from Mr. Kumar to the BJP in the last five years and the future of the JD(U) is set to decline. Competitive welfarism is all that remains in the toolkits of all parties to woo voters.