Centre proposes 11-member committee to look into freebies during polls

After terming the freebie culture by political parties as an ‘economic disaster’, the Centre on Thursday suggested the Supreme Court constitute an 11-member committee to look into the issue. The top court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, which opposes the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections and seeks the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze their election symbols and cancel their registration. According to the Centre, the proposed committee could include the Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance, state governments, representatives from leading commercial organisations, representatives appointed by the Election Commission, Niti Aayog, representatives of the Reserve Bank of India along with one representative each from recognised national political parties. During the last hearing, the Court had opined that an expert body consisting of various stakeholders such as Niti Aayog, the Finance Commission, the Law Commission, the Reserve Bank of India, and members of ruling and opposition parties would be required to give suggestions to address the issue of the promise of freebies during election campaigns.