Welfare schemes help in uplift of weaker sections, can't be termed freebies: DMK

Welfare schemes provide uplift of weaker sections and cannot be described as freebies the DMK has told the Supreme CourtOpposing the plea filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay seeking action against political parties for promising freebies during elections the DMK said the petition is politically motivated as the petitioner belongs to a political party which was locked in a political battle during Punjab elections at the time of filing this PILIt alleged the present petition lacks merit and is filed to settle political scores with another rival political party in PunjabThe yardstick to be applied for classifying a welfare scheme to be a freebie cannot be so rigid that every service provided by the government to its citizens be termed as a freebieAlso Read Free education healthcare not freebies can eliminate poverty Arvind KejriwalIf such a meaning is applied it would render all government facilities such as education healthcare to be freebies which is unconscionable submissions filed by senior advocate P Wilson on behalf of DMK saidThe DMK said the plea which is liable to be dismissed is an assault on the Directive Principles of State Policy and is an attempt to change the fabric of this nation from socialist country to capitalist countryIt said that no legal order can be issued against the representatives of the people making promises or against a lawmaking body from making laws to comply with the Part IV of the ConstitutionAlso Read Letrsquos talk about freebies to big corporates CongressOn Wednesday the CJI observed that political parties and individuals cannot be prevented from making poll promises aimed at fulfilling the constitutional mandate and the term freebie should not be confused with genuine welfare measuresIt had on January 25 sought replies from the Centre and the Election Commission on the PIL filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey seeking direction to seize the symbol or deregister a political party that promises or distributes irrational freebies before polls saying it is a serious issue as sometimes freebie budget goes beyond a regular budgetThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever