It all started in 1967 in the state of Tamil Nadu ( previously called Madras state in the Republic of India ) when the DMK party headed by C.N.Annadurai ( a great scholar, writer, orator and an honest soul to the core and his early demise in office was a great loss to Tamil population) snatched the political power from the Congress party by promising distribution of rice at one rupee a measure (equivalent to about one and a half kilograms) to the ration-card holders. The first non-congress government came to power on the basis of such a promise on the eve of elections. As usual the election manifesto did hardly throw light on the financial as well as the possible adverse impact on the expenditure towards creation and maintenance of basic infrastructure ( at a great opportunity cost ) needed for economic development. The said promise was partially implemented but the original author of the scheme passed away very soon leaving the mantle of responsibility to his successor chief ministers both in DMK and AIADMK parties till date. The legacy of such freebies normally being announced on the eve of general elections has not only broadened in their sweep and numbers in the state of Tamil Nadu but also got extended to other parts and states in the country thereafter.
The budget for basic infrastructure and other economic services got reduced over a period of time with mounting deficits beyond the repaying capacity of those states as also serving the interests of their own employees growing in Lakhs and Lakhs. For instance no irrigation dam worth-noting came in existence in the state of Tamil Nadu in the last fifty years after the exit of K.Kamaraj, the C.M of repute in every sense of the term. The result, the state has not developed like Singapore but has remained a poor developing economy still.
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