Freebie is not an issue, issue is how will you give it: Nirmala Sitharaman

The Finance Minister said that most people make promises during election but after seeing the budget of their states after coming to power, they realise that its not possible.

January 15, 2023 06:46 pm | Updated 10:42 pm IST - New Delhi

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. File

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. File | Photo Credit: PTI

Responding to a question on freebies, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was participating in the 75th year celebrations of Panchjanya — an RSS-linked magazine, said that freebies are something that everyone is talking about these days and everyone traps others on the same subject.

“People try to trap each other by talking about freebie. They keep judging what item is a freebie and which is not. Issue is not that what is a freebie? Issue is whether you will be able to give that freebie or not,” said the FM.

She added that most people make promises during elections but after seeing the budget of their States after coming to power, they realise that its not possible.

“When someone maintains that they can give the freebie. They must show the same in budget. Get the budget scrutinise in the end of the year. If the accounts and budget is clean, it’s not a freebie,” she said.

Attacking State governments, especially Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) run Delhi government, that gives free power to residents upto a certain limit, the Finance Minister said that most of the States do give freebies to their people but don’t show the same in the Budget.

“They just leave it on Modi ji to manage what they had spent. If you had sought votes in the name of freebie, how come the burden has to manage by centre,” she added.  

Most of the distribution companies (DISCOMs) working in the States are not being paid by the government on time, the Minister alleged.

“As the payments of discoms remain pending from states, then these discoms don’t pay to the power generating company. So these pending payments at the level of discoms and generating companies are being accumulated. So no one now is ready for the this free power distribution and this is the pain,” she added.

Taking a dig at Congress, the Finance Minister said, “Banks have a major contribution in India’s economy. The Modi government thinks that banks should be given full freedom to run.”

The previous governments, who ruled the country, used to take benefits from the banks which can be distributed among their relatives and party workers, she added.

She further added that the Modi government has been working on ‘4 Rs’ to reduce NPAs and improve the health of Public Sector Banks. The ‘4 Rs’ are Recognise the problem, Resolve the problem, Recapitalise the banks and Reform the banks.

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