Twenty Point Programme chief cautions against populist schemes and freebies

Lanka Dinakar, Chairman of the Implementation of Twenty Point Programme (Viksit Bharat – Swarna Andhra Pradesh), appealed to the states to take prudent steps to prevent fiscal deterioration and work collectively towards making India a ‘Viksit Bharat’.

Taking a leaf from the observations made by the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on the impact of excessive freebies on fiscal management, Mr. Dinakar appealed to all the state governments and every political party to take note of the serious observation.

He also observed that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently cautioned against unsustainable and populist schemes and highlighted the need for structural reforms to safeguard the nation’s economic future.

“The remarks by Justice Surya Kant indicate that the time has come for a healthy and constructive dialogue between the union and state governments to strengthen fiscal discipline and improve financial governance”, he added.

Mr. Dinakar recalled in this connection the series of letters and addresses made by him over the past seven years on the same issue, advocating reduction of unproductive expenditure, restructuring of public debt and reforms in debt utilisation.

The Chairman, accompanied by BJP district president Samanchi Srinivas and General Secretary Kadiri Naresh, received petitions from the public on civic and administrative issues.