The incentives for people to join politics needs to change
Normal people do not get into politics as a profession. Is it a regular profession in the first place? There are no legitimate incomes till a person gets elected. Suppose political parties, at least the major ones actually started paying members a stipend of Rs 10,000 pm. If the top 8-10 parties in the country develop a dedicated cadre of 1 million together, at 10,000 per month it involves an outlay of Rs 12,000 crore pa. If the stipend is 8,000 pm and the cadre strength is half a million, the outlay shrinks to 5,000 crore pa. That’s still a lot of money.
How much do political parties spend on elections on the other hand. Conservative estimates put the figure at about 5 cr or more for every lok sabha seat – 2,700 crore. Add vidhan sabha elections, panchayat elections, municipal elections and we may easily be talking about 12-15,000 crore. Other estimates will put these figures at maybe around 30,000 crore.
Now, those figures for stipends do not look that big any more. And stipends can easily be withdrawn for cadres when they get elected and have incomes from the tax payer.
The idea of having incomes for people consider long term involvement in politics is worth a thought. Such outlays may actually in the long run benefit politics and political parties more than what they currently do to win elections. A dedicated cadre should eliminate the need for the big spends during elections. The incentives for people to join politics needs to change.
Last 5 posts by Amit Sinha
- The incentives for people to join politics needs to change - March 3rd, 2010
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Tags: incentives, politics