{"id":45520,"date":"2025-10-27T01:20:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T19:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=45520"},"modified":"2025-10-28T16:44:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T11:14:43","slug":"freebies-in-indian-politics-the-growing-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/freebies-in-indian-politics-the-growing-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Freebies in Indian Politics and the Growing Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Freebies in Politics Latest News<\/li>\n<li>Background<\/li>\n<li>About Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024<\/li>\n<li>News Summary<\/li>\n<li>Significance of the Amendment Bill<\/li>\n<li>Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Freebies in Politics Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Rajya Sabha passed the <strong>Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 <\/strong>by a voice vote.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Background<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In recent years, the practice of offering <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/freebies-debate-in-india\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>freebies<\/strong><\/a>, free electricity, cash transfers, consumer goods, or subsidies, has become common in Indian politics.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Political parties often announce such schemes before elections to attract voters. While some of these are legitimate welfare measures, others are considered unsustainable and can strain state finances.<\/li>\n<li>Critics argue that freebies divert public funds from essential services like health, education, and disaster relief.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The Supreme Court, former RBI Governors, and even government officials have raised concerns about the long-term economic effects of this culture.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The latest development in this debate is the passage of the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/disaster-management-amendment-bill-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024<\/strong><\/a>, which seeks to prevent states from using disaster funds to compensate for populist spending.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was passed by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha on March 25, 2025.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It aims to bring clarity to the <strong>use of funds under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)<\/strong> and the <strong>National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Speaking in Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah made it clear that these funds must be used strictly according to Finance Commission guidelines\u2014for genuine disaster relief only.<\/li>\n<li>He strongly criticised states that send <strong>inflated fund requests<\/strong>, citing <strong>demands for \u20b950,000 crore when guidelines allow only \u20b95,000 crore<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>He stressed that states cannot use these funds to compensate for <strong>freebies<\/strong> already given by them.<\/li>\n<li>He also clarified that if states are unclear about the fund usage norms, Chief Ministers should contact him directly, and he will ensure they receive the necessary documentation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>News Summary<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Rajya Sabha passed<\/strong> the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 on March 25.<\/li>\n<li>Home Minister Amit Shah said freebies distributed by states cannot be covered using disaster relief funds. The Finance Commission has fixed norms for SDRF and NDRF fund allocation.<\/li>\n<li>He urged states to <strong>send realistic proposals<\/strong> that comply with these norms.<\/li>\n<li>He criticised the <strong>State government in Tamil Nadu<\/strong>, alleging corruption and misuse of funds.<\/li>\n<li>Shah defended the <strong>PM-CARES fund<\/strong>, calling it transparent and well-managed, in contrast to the earlier <strong>PMNRF<\/strong> (Prime Minister\u2019s National Relief Fund), which he claimed was controlled by one political family.<\/li>\n<li>Opposition leaders criticised the bill, calling it incomplete and demanding that it be sent to a <strong>Joint Parliamentary Committee<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Some MPs also pointed out that the bill doesn\u2019t include <strong>manmade disasters<\/strong>, like stampedes or law-and-order failures, in its relief framework.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Significance of the Amendment Bill<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The new law aims to bring <strong>accountability and transparency<\/strong> in how disaster relief funds are used.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It also signals the Centre\u2019s intent to <strong>stop the misuse of public money<\/strong> meant for emergencies.<\/li>\n<li>At the same time, it brings back the larger debate over the <strong>freebie culture<\/strong> in Indian politics.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>While welfare schemes are essential for public support, their funding must come from <strong>planned budgets<\/strong>, not from emergency reserves meant for floods, cyclones, or earthquakes.<\/li>\n<li>The challenge going forward will be ensuring that <strong>genuine relief efforts are not hampered<\/strong>, while still putting an end to <strong>financial misuse<\/strong> disguised as disaster aid.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1. <\/strong>What is the main goal of the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>To ensure that disaster relief funds are used only for genuine disasters and not for compensating freebies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2. <\/strong>Can states use SDRF or NDRF funds for welfare schemes?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>No, the bill clearly prohibits using disaster relief funds to cover welfare or freebie costs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3.<\/strong> Who sets the norms for disaster fund usage?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>The norms are set by the Finance Commission, and states must follow them strictly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4. <\/strong>What did Amit Shah say about the PM-CARES fund?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>He defended it as transparent and well-managed, unlike the earlier PMNRF.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5.<\/strong> Why did some MPs oppose the bill?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>They felt it ignored manmade disasters and lacked adequate accountability measures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/freebies-distributed-by-states-should-not-be-compensated-by-funds-for-disaster-relief-amit-shah\/article69374451.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 bars states from using disaster relief funds to cover populist freebies. Home Minister Amit Shah clarifies fund usage norms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}