Growth in rural wages not only indicates economic prosperity of the masses, it is also considered important so as to generate effective demand for goods and services, which is produced by various sectors of the economy. When money becomes available in the hands of rural workers due to government spending on programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), it generates demand for commodities. The production of commodities...
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Pathways to an income guarantee -Ram Singh
-The Hindu There is a compelling case for spending Rs. 3.6 lakh crore on the poor, but it must be done carefully The idea of a minimum income guarantee (MIG) has caught up with political parties. A MIG requires the government to pay the targeted set of citizens a fixed amount of money on a regular basis. With the promise of the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) by the Congress party, it is...
More »Exercise in manipulation -CP Chandrasekhar
-Frontline.in The political economy of the Modi regime was characterised by a redistribution of income in favour of a few and a worsened performance in job creation, welfare and alleviating deprivation. AT the end of its five-year term, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s claim that the Indian economy has experienced rapid growth during its tenure sounds shallow. The gross domestic product (GDP) numbers, many observers argue, are wrong and possibly fabricated....
More »Will Congress's NYAY Really Mean Justice for the Poor? -Anjana Thampi and Ishan Anand
-TheWire.in Any policy that seriously intends to reduce poverty and deprivation should increase social sector spending and look to universalise basic services. On Monday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi promised a minimum income guarantee scheme or Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) if voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The proposal involves a transfer of Rs 72,000 per year to 20% of the poorest families in India. He claimed that this “is...
More »The problem is jobs, not wages -Praveen Chakravarty
-The Hindu There is obfuscation over both the existence of a jobs crisis and the diagnosis of it It is well established that India is staring at a massive jobs crisis. Every single survey points to jobs as the biggest issue concerning voters, especially the youth. Yet, the Prime Minister and the government steadfastly refuse to even acknowledge this issue, let alone address it. India’s jobs crisis is an economic issue, not a...
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