Freebies Won’t Build Superpower

India today finds itself at a decisive point in its democratic journey, a point where politics is no longer shaped by vision, long-term planning, or hard reforms, but by the short-term allure of giveaways. Over the years, successive governments have cultivated what has come to be known as the “revdi culture,” where election campaigns revolve around promises of free electricity, loan waivers, permanent rations, and a range of other subsidies designed to secure votes but not to secure the nation’s future. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has publicly warned against this temptation, calling out the dangers of freebies as a political shortcut. Yet, even his own government has allowed schemes such as free ration distribution, which were introduced as temporary relief during the pandemic, to continue far longer than their intended duration. What may have been a compassionate necessity during a crisis is in danger of becoming a permanent crutch, one that weakens the very foundations of India’s economic growth.

The problem with freebies is not compassion, but sustainability. Every rupee of so-called “free” benefit is not free at all it comes at the expense of the taxpayer. The middle class is squeezed with high GST, rising fuel levies, and income taxes, while the poor themselves pay in the form of inflation and weakened public services. Loan waivers weaken the banking system, subsidies paralyze electricity distribution companies, and free rations discourage much-needed reforms in agriculture. Instead of producing an empowered, self-reliant citizenry, this system produces dependency, entitlement, and a weakening work ethic. Short-term popularity comes at the expense of long-term prosperity. A nation of India’s size and ambition simply cannot afford to build its future on a culture of giveaways. What it needs is a culture of enterprise, innovation, and human capital development.

Yet even as freebies eat away at India’s financial health, there is another, even more pressing challenge that threatens to undo the nation’s progress unchecked population growth. At 1.4 billion, India has overtaken China to become the world’s most populous nation. The numbers themselves are staggering, but the real danger lies in the mounting pressure they exert on limited resources land, water, jobs, healthcare, and education. This is a silent emergency that few leaders dare to confront openly, but one that India can no longer afford to ignore.

The signs are already visible. Cities are bursting at the seams, with sprawling slums that lack basic amenities. Youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, with millions of young Indians entering the workforce each year and far too few jobs being created to absorb them. Schools are overcrowded, forcing teachers to divide attention among far too many students, and hospitals are unable to keep pace with demand, leaving millions without adequate healthcare. The environmental cost is equally alarming. Rivers are polluted, forests are disappearing, groundwater tables are falling, and air quality in cities is deteriorating—all directly linked to the sheer pressure of human numbers on finite natural resources. The celebrated demographic dividend, which once promised to be India’s greatest strength, now threatens to become a demographic disaster if left unmanaged.

Freebies and population growth are not two separate challenges; they are two sides of the same coin. A rapidly growing population demands ever greater subsidies, and the promise of subsidies in turn reinforces dependency while slowing down the adoption of education, skills, and family planning. This creates a vicious cycle in which the state is compelled to expand giveaways to ever larger numbers, further draining resources that should be invested in building capacity for the future. India cannot continue to expand subsidies for an endlessly growing population while also aspiring to become a global power. The only sustainable path is to break this cycle by enforcing strict population discipline while redirecting resources into education, healthcare, and skill-building.

For this reason, Prime Minister Modi must exercise the political courage to resist the mistakes of the past. Previous leaders have often sacrificed long-term national interest for the sake of short-term political gains. That path is no longer tenable. Freebies must not be institutionalized as permanent entitlements. Welfare safety nets are necessary, but they must remain temporary, targeted, and carefully designed to help people rise out of poverty, not to keep them dependent upon it. At the same time, population cannot remain a taboo subject. Silence, hesitation, or fear of backlash will cost the nation dearly. India needs strict yet fair population control measures that encourage small families through incentives, link welfare benefits to compliance, and promote widespread awareness about responsible parenting, women’s empowerment, and the need to balance family size with available resources.

Equally crucial is the role of education and healthcare. Without strong schools and reliable healthcare, both subsidy reforms and population control will fail. A smaller but healthier, better educated, and more skilled population is India’s surest path to prosperity. The lessons of history and the global experience offer valuable guidance. Countries that ignored population pressures, whether in parts of Africa or Latin America, fell into poverty traps from which they have struggled to escape.

Rolling back subsidies and introducing population discipline is unlikely to win applause. It will demand sacrifice, adjustment, and a willingness to endure short-term discomfort for long-term gain. But leadership is not about doing what is convenient; it is about doing what is necessary. Prime Minister Modi, with his unparalleled political capital and his reputation for taking tough decisions, is uniquely placed to make this shift. He must present it not as an act of denial but as an act of empowerment. Freebies can be replaced with scholarships, skill development programs, and health insurance that build capacity rather than dependence. Population control can be promoted not as coercion but as responsible citizenship, women’s empowerment, and an act of national duty. If citizens are convinced that these measures will secure a better future for their children, they will accept them.

Freebies may win elections, but discipline builds nations. If Prime Minister Modi wishes to leave behind a true legacy, it will not be as the leader who gave away the most, but as the leader who had the courage to say: enough is enough.