-The Indian Express If done well, One Nation, One Ration Card, could lay the foundation of a truly national and portable benefits system that includes other welfare programmes like LPG subsidy and social pensions. The economic crisis precipitated by COVID-19 has focussed the country’s attention on inter-state migrants. Millions of Indians in this diverse, complex group have crossed state borders in search of better economic opportunities. The crisis, however, has highlighted their...
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The Modi Sarkar’s Project for India’s Informal Economy -Barbara Harriss-White
-TheWire.in From demonetisation to GST and now the lockdown, the government's policies towards the 'unorganised sector' has spelt nothing but rack and ruin. What has the BJP-led government of Narendra Modi done since 2014 that does not suggest it wishes to destroy the informal economy, also known as the unorganised sector? While the ‘unorganised’ informal economy now accounts for roughly half of India’s GDP – and is shrinking relative to the share of...
More »States cannot be left to the Centre’s mercy -Praveen Chakravarthy
-The Hindu Not only are the States not paid what is due to them, they have also lost the powers to raise their own sales tax revenues Karur MP S Jothimani recently conducted a telephonic survey of 30 lakh people in Tamil Nadu on the re-opening of liquor shops in the State during lockdown 3.0. An overwhelming 89% were opposed to the move. The Maharashtra government too decided to permit liquor shops to...
More »Modi Government is on a Dangerous Course -Prabhat Patnaik
-Newsclick.in The BJP government’s centralising tendency and its attitude towards the financial needs of states during this pandemic, is symptomatic of a thinking that will weaken the very foundations of modern India. Despite repeated demands by the states, the Centre has still not released what is their legitimate due, namely, compensation for their revenue loss owing to the introduction of goods and services tax or GST; this has not been paid since...
More »TM Thomas Isaac, Kerala Finance Minister and a trained economist, interviewed by AM Jigeesh (The Hindu Business Line)
-The Hindu Business Line In the thick of battling the Covid-19 pandemic, the CPI (M)-ruled Kerala government gathered Opposition parties on a virtual platform to chart out a common course on livelihood issues and the economic crisis that is simultaneously unfolding. Kerala Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac, a trained economist, told BusinessLine that India is facing an attack on economic federalism and there is urgent need for the States to combat...
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