PROGRESSIVE RATIONALIST

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday lowered its growth forecast for the Indian economy in 2020 by 4.5 per cent , a "historic low" , citing economic slowdown due to the two-month-long COVID-19-induced lockdown. The fund, however, also said that India is expected to bounce back in 2021 with a 6 per cent growth rate. In 2019, India's growth rate was 4.2 per cent.  The CoVID'19 lead economic crisis is different from other economic crisis in history and needs a different strategy. To revive the economy and boost growth govt should attract global investments and also increase liquidity and monetize the poor so much. Govt is highly ensuring the supply side hitch through credit guarantee schemes but only if the consumer has money in their hands these businesses would perform.  Govt should not worry about the fiscal deficit and inflation for about 6 months. Only through more public spending, money would reach the poor - Garib Kalyan Rojgar is a good example. An

Govt. has come up with Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan (Poor Welfare Employment Scheme) to provide employment in rural areas and reduce the financial stress created due to the nationwide lockdown. The scheme is  a merger of 25 govt schemes including housing scheme, providing drinking water through taps, road construction etc. and govt has planned to implement it in 116 districts across 6 states (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) . The CG has fixed 125 days target to implement the scheme and a total of 6.7 million guest workers to be provided works in house construction, rural infrastructure development, Anganwadi construction etc (that are a part of 25 govt schemes merged in GKRA) according to their skillset. The Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan is a part of the relief package of 20 Lakh crores announced by the govt last month. The budget of the scheme is 50,000 crores and FM announced on June 18,2020 that the funds will be drawn from the 61,500 crores sa

The CoVID19 pandemic has forced the shutdown of all economic activities all over the world. The pandemic has cost many lives and left lakhs of people affected. It also affected the global economy and left many people jobless. This situation has caused reverse migration in the domestic and global level. The Guest workers of India were returning to their home from foreign countries and urban cities of India where they had their livelihoods since the pandemic left them with no income. Pic source: Economic Times The situation of the guest workers is very worst since they don’t have much cash in their hands to survive the lockdown whether domestic or globally. The reason for their situation is ignorance of the govt in the first place. When there is a movement of labour from one place to another the two sides of the govt must have some data about the migration without affecting the liberty to free movement . The other important reasons were rumours, emotions of the labour and very importantl

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan (Self-reliant India) in his speech on May 12, 2020. The intended objective of this plan is two-fold. First, interim measures such as liquidity infusion and direct cash transfers for the poor will work as shock absorbers for those in acute stress. Second is a long-term reform in growth-critical sectors to make them globally competitive and attractive. Together, these steps may revive the economic activity, impacted by Covid-19 pandemic and create new opportunities for growth in sectors like agriculture, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), power, coal and mining, defence and aviation, etc. Self-reliant: Self-sufficient The self-sufficient vision has been heard at least for about 100 years. The idea of using Swadeshi products has been insisted from 1905 during the Independence struggle, then during the Gandhian politics and later. Whether we stopped using foreign products? Even during India was a closed econom

For First, Second and Third tranche See: Twenty lakh crores stimulus package – such a big number The Indian Finance Minister announced the final Fifth tranche of the Atmanirbhar Bharath Abhiyaan Stimulus package on May 17. She has announced many sectoral reforms in her fourth and fifth tranche announcements. Also, she gave the breakup for 20 lakh crores including liquidity, credit guarantee and direct spending. What is the urgency for the sectoral reforms during this pandemic? Does the package is really capable of reviving the economy and helping the situation of distress experienced by the poor, migrant workers etc? Reforms in the core sectors FM announced reforms for the 8 core sectors of the economy in the fourth tranche of the financial stimulus package. The core sectors include Atomic energy, space, Defence, Ordinance factories, Power distribution companies, civil aviation, Minerals and Coal. FM announced there will be Public-Private Partnership in Atomic energy, space and civil a