The temperature in Tamil Nadu is increasing, not just because of the arrival of summer but also because of the upcoming state assembly elections. The heat is increasing drastically among the political parties as the polling day is not too far. The present heat felt is not only because of the short span of canvassing given to the parties, but also the optimum measures taken by the election commission to curb malpractices which are against the rules and regulations of the commission. With all these factors under consideration and futuristic plans to get the throne, both the ruling party (DMK) and opposition (AIADMK) have declared their election manifesto’s for the upcoming assembly elections.
Before analyzing the pros and cons of the manifestos, let us first see the short summary of manifesto ‘as declared by the two major shareholders of the election;
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| DMK and AIADMK Election Manifesto |
DMK Election Manifesto 2011
35kg free rice to poor per month, free wet grinder or mixie to women depending on their choice, free laptops to first year students (BC, MBC, SC, ST) pursuing professional degrees from government and government aided colleges, free power supply to be extended to horticulture and coconut farming, free bus passes to senior citizens aged 60 and above, hike in old age pension to Rs.750, new metro rail projects in Coimbatore and Madurai, financial assistance under Kalaignar housing scheme will be increased to Rs.1,00,000, absorbing interest for education loans will be considered, 200 units of free power to handloom weavers.
AIADMK Election Manifesto 2011
20 free rice per month to all family card holders along with 20 litres of purified drinking water, free wet grinder or mixie or fan to women depending on their choice, four grams of gold along with Rs.25, 000 as assistance for marriage and this assistance will be extended to Rs.50,000 for those beneficiaries holding a diploma or a degree, 6 months maternity along with Rs.12,000 assistance and bank loan up to Rs.10 lakh with 25% subsidy for self-help groups, ‘Green House’ would be given to BPL families which will be powered by solar energy, 3 cents of land to poor, free uniform and shoes to students, scholarships to higher secondary students, free laptops to all students pursuing higher studies, mobile hospitals and telemedicine centers in villages, monorail projects, 5000 MW power producing projects to curb power loss, cable TV network to be brought under government, special forces to protect school students, theft in houses etc.,
Looking back into the past
Free television and Rs.1 a kg of rise was the highlight of the previous election. Though they implemented there was huge effects in general life as a result of it. Though the government says that the present scheme of giving rise at the low cost is applicable to all family card holders, the actual beneficiaries are the people who live below the poverty line and earn on daily basis. To them this scheme is actually a one which is supposed to be appreciated, but the quality of rice made people who belong to the middle class to move outside. Smuggling of rice has been found. Cost of rice in shops moved up, though there are several other reasons for the inflation, the poor administration is one of the main reasons. Secondly, I don’t find any logical reason to give televisions as television have become a part of day to day life and almost all owned it before the scheme was announced too. With the implementation of the scheme an additional TV in bedroom or television in shops has become a trend. Several malpractices among the local politicians were also seen during the distribution.
Among the schemes introduced the 108 service which is actually adopted from Andhra Pradesh is the best of them and was directly helpful to the people, the medical scheme too is a welcome one (though it had some personal benefits) but the same could have be modified better, free house under Kalaignar housing scheme is also is good scheme, but no steps were taken to maintain the cost of bricks which suddenly increased in cost putting some extra burden to the people, especially to the middle class.
What is the need for freebies?
Both DMK and AIADMK are clashing each other even in their manifesto providing galore of freebies. But what exactly is need for freebies is a billion dollar question. Fans, mixie or grinder is now a part of household except BPL families. However they can survive without this too, instead the same money can be utilized for welfare activities and curbing inflation in food products. I hope it will be an educational laptop which may be given to students, not actually having great features which we usually buy for Rs.25, 000 or above. If they are actually interested in giving laptops to increase the quality of education and giving some exposure to students, digital library can be opened in every village with access to internet. Probably this may useful to the students and will also have some employment opportunities.
Considering both the manifesto’s the AIADMK manifesto has some development measures compared with the DMK which is mainly focused on freebies which the common man not required to survive. Green House scheme is an innovative one, steps to stop the power cut problems is a welcome note which actually was not addressed by the DMK; schemes to empower women and education, mobile hospitals and telemedicine centers are few which will be directly useful to the people.
Stress given by the AIADMKDMK manifesto.
Verdict
Now it’s the time for us to decide whom we should opt as our ‘REPRESENTATIVES’. This is just an analysis based on the manifesto and it is you who have to decide depending on your experience so for with your representative and choose the right.
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