Podcasts · In Focus by The Hindu

Freebies or Rights: What is India's approach to welfare spending?

· 1 h 07 min

Episode Freebies or Rights: What is India's approach to welfare spending?

0:00 1:06:43

The resilience of a nation’s economy is determined by the quality of its human capital. Other things being equal, a country with a healthy and educated population will grow much faster than one with a semi-literate and undernourished one.

And yet, has historically, and consistently, under-invested in health and education – neglecting them even in years of high economic growth. There is a strong tendency to dismiss state expenditure on people’s well being a as ‘freebies’ or ‘revdi’. But are they freebies or are they basic rights that people can demand from the state?

Guest: Reetika Khera, professor of economics at IIT, explores this question in her book, ‘Freebies or Rights: Understanding Social Policy in ’, which maps ’s welfare architecture and its effectiveness.

Host: G Sampath

Producer and editor: Jude Weston

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