Financial Hara-Kiri Through Freebies?

An English adage says, “there is no such thing as a free lunch”. It means when we get something free either someone else is paying for it or we shall pay for it in some or the other manner, or our children or grandchildren end up paying for the same. We often end up paying much more than what we get for free. Getting something for nothing is possible only in charity, but in the commercial world, it is just a gimmick. For example, free filing of a tax return may lure some taxpayers, but in the bargain, they share details of their income, investments, savings pattern, and so on. Data is considered as new oil or a gold mine, which can be used or exploited in many ways. These days, an entity’s valuation depends upon its customer database, rather than profitability. Marketing companies use free gifts to collect vital information about customers through various surveys. Pharma companies offer freebies to push their sales. Tax Havens offer tax- free regimes to attract investments. Thus, the use of freebies is not new, but when it is used to further political agenda it may lead to economic disaster.

These days many political parties in India are resorting to the so-called “Revadi Culture”. The political parties offer many freebies to lure voters to vote for them. There is competition amongst political parties to offer freebies without any planning or calculation of resources to fulfil them if voted to power. These freebies ar