Freedom from freebies

Elections always see voters being offered freebies by political parties wanting to come to power. One such — expected – offer ahead of the Assembly elections promised continued free water and power to farmers in Punjab. Commenting on this vicarious generosity – since it is the state-owned utilities that must literally pay the price – an official from the fertiliser industry was moved to comment, “Thank god these people do not give fertilisers as freebies to farmers, otherwise the government and the industry would both face huge losses.” Fertiliser prices, though still partly subsidised, have risen steeply in recent years, but the irony is that this has not had a noticeable impact on the subsidy bill.