In an address delivered at the Delhi School of Economics last week, N.K. Singh, the chairperson of the 15th Finance Commission, warned about how the race to provide freebies to voters could be a “quick path to fiscal disaster.” He also noted that freebies could be harmful for the long-term economic growth of the country and emphasised the need to distinguish between productive and unproductive forms of welfare spending.

Here we discuss whether there is a case for doing away with freebie culture.

Guests: Himanshu, Associate Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Renu Kohli, an independent economist who has worked at the International Monetary Fund and the Reserve Bank of India

Host: Prashanth Perumal

Read the parley article here