-Newsclick.in Will this Budget give any signal that the government is tackling the deadly jobs crisis? Budgets usually don’t address big systemic issues. After all, they only arrange for government revenue and expenditure for one year. But, if the water is flowing over your head, a Budget could very well give a strong signal of beginning something. It could open the door to policy changes, and declare a determined political intent. The raging...

-Newsclick.in Tax collections have plummeted and Modi Govt is scrambling to cut spending by Ministries, further deepening the crisis. For the first time in two decades, corporate and income tax collections are expected to fall in 2019-20. This is an indication of the gigantic mess created by the Narendra Modi government with its dogmatic commitment to reduce taxes on corporates and squeeze its own expenditure to supposedly boost the flagging economy. As...

-TelanganaToday.in Follow the Keynesian policy and go for larger fiscal deficit that puts more purchasing power in people’s hands Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Budget on February 1 amid a slowdown in GDP growth and an increase in the rate of unemployment. Even supply-side economists are acknowledging that the current situation is because of the problem of aggregate demand. The demand-side economists, anyway, have been arguing for expansionary...

-The Indian Express As of now, the government does have a calender for release of data sets such as national accounts, Index of Industrial Production and inflation. But there are no specific timeline for release of labour force statistics and consumption expenditure surveys. Putting in place a release calendar for all official economic data sets and ensuring their timely release is key to restoring the credibility of India’s statistics, according to Pronab...

-The Indian Express As India inches towards its goal of universal healthcare, there is a need for the budget to try to ensure that healthcare sector requirements are well funded and the budget contains provisions that energise accessible, affordable and quality healthcare. Here's what the government can do to boost the healthcare sector. India’s annual healthcare spend hovers around 4 per cent of GDP with high out of pocket expenditure and low...