Words like freebies, free ration demean citizens, says RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha

Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha, on Friday, July 22, said that words like “freebies, free ration, free vaccine, etc, demean the citizens” and that the government needs to remember India is a welfare state. Jha, who is a spokesperson of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, was speaking in the upper house of the parliament.

Interestingly, prime minister Narendra Modi, on July 17, had spoken against ‘revdi culture.’ “Today in our country, attempts are being made to collect votes by distributing free revdis (sweets). This revdi culture is very dangerous for the development of the country. People of the country, especially the youth, need to be careful of this revdi culture. People of revdi culture will not build expressways, airports or defence corridors for you,” he had said, as per Indian Express.

“By using words like free, you denigrate a large section of the population, you insult them. No one has the right to insult the Indian citizens,” Jha asserted in his speech in the Rajya Sabha. 

“After all, what do you give? Food? Vaccine? This is your responsibility. Don’t transform your responsibility into freebies. There is a big difference between responsibility and doles,” he further said.

Jha castigated state governments for indulging in similar rhetoric. “Publish long ads costing crores, and say we are giving this for free, giving that for free… no sahab, you aren’t giving anything for free. Every individual, every section of the citizens has paid for each thing (that the government distributes). Today we are constructing a building over there, Central Vista… the poor too have contributed to that,” he reminded the house.