Knight Frank India, a property consultancy reported that the number of ultrahigh net worth individuals -UHNI (over US $ 30 million) is expected to increase by 27 per cent in five years period from 2020 to 2025, but in India the number of UHNI is expected to increase by 63 per cent to 11,198 in 5 years, This only reflects the growing economic inequality in India.
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has recently
ruled that Uber Technology should treat its drivers as "workers" and
guarantee them paid vacation, pension, minimum wage. The International Labor
Organization (ILO) has stated that the increasing use of information technology
blur the distinction between workers and self-employed people and called for
the regulation of the informal economy to ensure workers' interests.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) reported
that Indian employees work longest in the world. But still India has the lowest
minimum wage in the world, with the exception of a few sub-Saharan African
countries, according to Global Wage Report.
The BJP government has removed the subsidy on kerosene poor
people’s fuel, which is provided via public distribution system only at market
prices. The price of LPG cylinders has gone up by more than 200 rupees. The
price of petrol has soared to 100 rupees in many places. The Finance Minister said
that petrol and diesel prices are set by the oil companies and It is not in the
hands of the government. Krishnan, the finance secretary of the Tamil Nadu
government, has stated that the Tamil Nadu government's taxation is not the
reason for the current increase in fuel prices. The central government has
collected Rs 2.3 lakh crore in additional revenue on Cess levied on petrol and
diesel in 2020-21, which is 80 per cent more than estimated. RBI Governor shaktikanta
das has demanded to reduce indirect taxes on petrol and diesel to keep fuel
prices under control.
Millions of people have lost their jobs and a large
number of MSMEs have been closed. BJP government has done nothing to improve
the livelihood of the affected people; The finance minister lashes out at the
opposition, claiming that the government is for the poor but being
misrepresented as a government for the rich. It's true, isn't it? as poor remains
even poorer under BJP govt and it has not taken a single measure to reduce the
inequality gap. The BJP government depicts liberation as a foreign ideology.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India must be protected from the ideology of
foreign destructiveness in the name of new foreign direct investment. That is
why they are selling all the public property under the guise of ‘socialist baggage’.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, With the mantra of
monetization and modernization under the policy of minimum government and
maximum governance, has promised to sell 100 public sector enterprises, except
four strategic sectors, 1.Nuclear, aerospace, security; 2. Transport,
telecommunications; 3. Energy, petroleum, coal, other minerals; 4. Bank,
Insurance, Financial services and planned to raise Rs 2.5 lakh crore by selling
several state-owned assets.
This greed is never going to be realized. As last year govt managed to raise only Rs
40,355 crore which is only 19.2 per cent of the disinvesment target of 2.1lakh
crore. The Prime Minister says doing business is not the business of the
government. Then why does it undertake the business of selling PSEs, public assets.
New
disinvestment policy is aimed at economic growth and employment creation, not
to plug fiscal deficit, says the secretary of the Department of investment
and public asset management!.
According to a UNICEF report, only 23 percent of Indian
households have access to e-learning. But Prakash Javadekar proudly claims no
child has lost access to internet education during the pandemic.
The Finance Minister has announced the removal of
restrictions on private banks in conducting government-related banking
transactions. FM said the private sector is the main driving force behind
economic growth and urged the private sector to make greater investments and
make India one of the fastest growing economies in the world by taking advantage
of the incentives offered to facilitate ease of doing business. But the private
sector paid no heed.
Rs 30,000 crore collected from agricultural
infrastructure and development cess will go to the states to improve the agricultural
infrastructure says our FM. How to believe this! First of all, The BJP government
is introducing a number of Cess so as not to share it with the states. Disinvestment
Proceeds are to be maintained as National Investment Fund (NIF), the revenue of
which should be spent only for social sectors. Instead it is used for funding
the construction of the highways. Funding for the Jaljivan project, which
provides drinking water, comes from the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF)!.
If that is so, then how come agricultural infrastructure and development cess alone
will be an exception.
In Lok Sabha, Union Minister RK Singh stated
that “Electricity is on the concurrent list and it is the responsibility of the
state government to provide free or subsidized power supply. Why then the
Central Government has enacted new draconian farm laws to override the power of
State Governments when agriculture is in the concurrent list.
Many around the world, including Greta Thunberg,
singer Rihanna, have supported the farmers struggle in Delhi. The corrupt BJP
government has registered a case against Greta. Enviromental activist Disha
Ravi was jailed for just sharing a tool kit!. Sarath bhavar says Since independence,
I have never seen a govt nailing the road to stop protesters. Now, people
outside India are also expressing support for farmers. Therefore, central
government should introspect itself.
Nitin Gadkari has been repeatedly saying, the share of
small and medium enterprises in India's GDP should be increased from 30 per
cent to 40 per cent. He advises Khadi and rural industries to raise revenue
through technological changes to Rs 5 lakh crore within 5 years. But how much
has been allocated to MSMEs only Rs 15,700 crore.
The Central government has only underestimated not
overestimated its revenues and the allocation for capital expenditure in excess
of Rs 5.54 trillion will have a major impact on economic growth, with reforms
aimed at transforming India into a $ 5 trillion economy says Secretary for Economic
Affairs Tarun Bajaj.
But the
announcement of Rs 4.39 lakh crore for capital investment in the financial
statements is only an optical illusion says former Finance Secretary Garg. In financial
statement, Finance Minister said the capital outlay for 2021-22 has increased
by 34.5 per cent to Rs 5.54 lakh crore over the previous year. Of the Rs
108,398 crore capital expenditure allocated for the railway sector in 2020-21, Rs
79,398 crore given to meet the revenue loss in the railway sector was shown as
capital expenditure. Deducing this, only Rs 29,000 crore has been earmarked for
capital expenditure in the railway sector in 2020-21. Apart from this, a loan
of Rs 12,000 crore has been mentioned as capital expenditure. Taking all this
into account, the revised capital expenditure estimate falls to Rs 347,765
crore.
A part of the Rs 2.4 lakh crore food subsidy provided for
2020-21 is for paying the outstanding arrears in due to the Food Corporation of
India.
The CMIE opined
that the increase in government spending in 2020-21 may not be 28.4 percent as
projected, but may be 17.3 percent. An allocation of Rs 30.4 lakh crore for
government expenditure in budget estimate 2020-21 had been revised to Rs. 34.5
lakh crore. But only Rs. 26.9 lakh crore has been spent in 2019-20 which is
less than projected and may not stimulate demand.
Inflation:
Consumer price inflation increased to 4.06
percent in December, while food inflation rose to 1.89 percent. Prices of
vegetables declined by 15.84 per cent. Grain prices increased by 0.07 percent.
Pulses became dearer by 13.39 per cent. Egg prices rose by 12.85 per cent,
while oil and fat prices rose by 19.71 per cent. Prices of fish and meat rose
by 12.54 per cent. Inflation in Tamil Nadu has increased to 5.27 per cent.
Industrial
growth in December:
The Index
of Industrial Production declined by 1 per cent according to the report released
by Ministry of Statistics. In primary sectors, mining sector contracted by 4.8
percent. In manufacturing sector, output grew by 1.6 per cent and electricity generation
increased by 5.1 per cent. Production of primary products in the user-based
classification declined by 0.3 percent. Production of capital goods increased
by 0.6 per cent, construction goods showed an increase of 0.9 per cent and growth
in durable goods increased by 4.9 per cent. Production of non-durable consumer
goods (2.0%) and intermediate goods (0.4%) also increased.
National
Revenue for the Fiscal Year 2020-21:
The
National Statistics Office has released the second advanced estimate of
national income for the fiscal year 2020-21 and the GDP estimate for the third
quarter (October-December).
GDP is
projected to reach 134.09 trillion rupees by 2020-21. The growth rate, which
increased to 4.0 percent in 2019-20, is expected to contract by 8 percent in
2020-21. Per capita income is estimated to contract by 9.1 percent. In the
third quarter of the 2020-21 financial year, GDP grew by 0.4 per cent to Rs
36.22 lakh crore.
In the
third quarter gross value added declined by 6.5 percent. Growth in agriculture
and allied sectors showed an increase of 3.9 per cent, manufacturing grew by
1.6 per cent and electricity, water supply and other services showed a growth
of 7.3 per cent. Mining sector grew by 5.9 per cent, there is a 7.7 per cent growth
seen in trade, transport, hotels and telecommunications, public administration
and defense sector grew by 1.5 per cent.
Industrial
growth in January:
The
combined manufacturing index of eight key industries released by the Department
of Industry and internal Trade Development increased to 0.1 percent in January.
Coal production declined by 1.8 percent, crude oil production declined by 4.6
percent and natural gas production increased by 2.0 percent. Production of refined
Petroleum products is declined by 2.6 percent. Fertilizer production is increased
by 2.7 percent. Steel production is increased by 2.6 percent. Cement production
fell by 5.9 percent and Electricity generation showed an increase of 5.1
percent.
The head
of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, has warned that
low-income countries could lose a generation and warned
of an emerging “Great Divergence” in global growth if they do not
receive more aid. In the aftermath of the Covid crisis, advanced economies had
spent about 24% of GDP on average on support measures during the pandemic,
compared to 6% in emerging markets and 2% in low-income countries. Fifty
percent of developing countries are at risk of falling further behind. She suggested
that the rich countries and international organizations should come forward to
help avoid major problems.
But rich
countries have prevented poor countries from accessing even Covid-19 vaccine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the direct contracting for coronavirus
vaccine by rich countries with drug companies could jeopardize the supply of
coronavirus vaccine to poor countries.
The Prime
Minister says if India is able to serve humanity during the Covid-19 pandemics,
it is only due to the role of the private sector. That is why the BJP
government is planning to close two state-owned pharmaceutical companies,
Indian drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited, Rajasthan drugs and Pharmaceuticals,
and going to sell shares of three pharmaceutical PSUs.
If the public sector is important, then the role of the
private sector is paramount, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The use of
inappropriate language against the private sector may have garnered votes for a
few in the past, but those times have gone and the culture of “abusing” the
private sector for votes is no longer acceptable says our PM. The BJP government's policy of minimum
government and maximum governance only meant providing minimum to the people
and maximum to the big corporates.
