Ain't we creating a 'class of parasites' by political freebies, asks SC

Says due to these benefits, people are not willing to work

The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on pre-poll freebies offered by political parties and said that people were unwilling to work due to them.

 

“Rather than making them contribute to the development of the nation, are we not creating a class of parasites? Because of these benefits, people do not want to work,” a bench of Justices B R Gavai and A G Masih said.

 

The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition seeking shelter for the urban homeless, who, in search of work, migrate from rural parts of the country.

 

"Unfortunately, because of these freebies, which just on the anvil when elections are declared, Ladki Bahin and some other schemes...the people are not willing to work. They are getting free rations, money without doing any work! I am telling you from personal experiences... because of these freebies, some states give free ration, so the people do not want to work,” Justice Gavai remarked.

 

 

Under the Ladki Bahin scheme in Maharashtra, women in the age group of 21-65 with an annual family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh get Rs 1,500 per month. Justice Gavai also referred to similar programmes run by ruling parties in other states.

 

Agricultural workers in Maharashtra, Justice Gavai said, refused to work because of such freebies announced prior to elections.

 

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioners, said that shelters for the homeless in urban areas were in dilapidated condition, which, in turn, led to migrant workers avoiding going to them.

 

Justice Gavai, however, shot down the argument saying: “Between a shelter home which is uninhabitable and sleeping on a road, what is more preferable?”

 

Though giving freebies habituates people to not do any work, the right to shelter, prayed for in the plea, is a fundamental right, he said.

 

Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, told the court that the government was framing schemes to help alleviate urban poverty. The court directed the Centre to file an affidavit in six weeks, detailing the time required to finalise and implement the schemes, and what aspects they would cover.

 

The counsel for Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) told the court that night shelters were well-provided for and that officials of DUSIB did rounds of the city to convince the homeless to come to these shelters without much success.

 

Bhushan, however, countered and said that the total capacity of shelter homes in Delhi was only for around 17,000 people, which was below the demand for such homes. Additionally, the DUSIB had also demolished nine such shelter homes, he alleged.

 

In response, the DUSIB counsel said that six temporary shelter homes had been destroyed in 2023 Yamuna floods and had been abandoned since June that year.

 

This is not the first time freebies have been a bone of contention in the top court. Earlier in 2022, a bench headed by then Chief Justice N V Ramana had referred petitions seeking a ban on freebies to a three-judge bench. The case is still pending. 

The case file 

Justice Gavai questioned whether freebies discouraged work and hindered national development

  Justice Gavai cited personal experience of people refusing work due to free rations

  He mentioned Maharashtra’s Ladki Bahin scheme and similar schemes in other states

  The SC previously addressed freebies in 2022, referring petitions to a larger bench

  The 2022 freebies case was still pending in the Supreme Court