-National Herald Universal cash transfer to non-income tax households is imperative apart from covering investment on infrastructure, including social infrastructure like healthcare A striking aspect of the 24 per cent decline in GDP in the first quarter of 2020-21 compared to the previous year’s first quarter is the decline by 10.3 per cent in public administration, defence and other public services. This is a sector where the GDP is estimated not by...

-Networkideas.org The GDP growth in the first quarter (April-June) of 2020 over the first quarter of the previous year has been minus 24 per cent according to preliminary official estimates. But most knowledgeable people believe that even this is an underestimate of the actual contraction brought about by the lockdown. In fact, a former chief statistician of India, Pronab Sen, believes that the actual contraction would have been about 32 per...

-National Herald If the disaster that economy is heading towards is to be avoided, there has to be a massive injection of demand by govt both through transfers and through direct spending on goods and services The GDP growth in the first quarter (April-June) of 2020 over the first quarter of the previous year has been minus 24 per cent according to preliminary official estimates. But most knowledgeable people believe that even...

-Newsclick.in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman invoking ‘Act of God’ to deny states their promised dues, not only violates an Act of Parliament but also defies economic logic. When the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced, and states virtually gave up the power to levy indirect taxes which they had enjoyed under the Constitution, the Centre had solemnly promised that it would compensate them for five years for any revenue shortfall arising...

-Livemint.com As India celebrates its 74th Independence Day, its citizens need to take a hard look at the relationship between their democratic rights and basic economic security While the need for instituting a set of fundamental political rights is generally recognized and enshrined in all democratic Constitutions, there has scarcely been any similar recognition of the need for a set of fundamental economic rights. On the contrary, serious theoretical reservations have been...