In a close contest, the BJP managed to emerge victorious in the Gujarat Assembly elections for the sixth consecutive time, but with a considerably reduced number of seats. In an interview with The Hindu , economist and Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar says the message of the Gujarat election results is crystal clear: Address farm distress and unemployment. Excerpts:
What according to you was the message of the Gujarat election results?
The first message of the election results is that Gujaratis are very smart people! They have given a message, and yet, kept (voted) the (BJP) government. Secondly, they have demanded a new approach to agriculture. You cannot address farm distress by just continuing old medicine. With agrarian distress, you cannot have the same old approach of declaring same MSP for all commodities ... you have to change the approach.
Do you see any other message like youth becoming unsatisfied because of unemployment?
Well, this is another major message. You see young people are not unemployed. They are employed but they are not satisfied. Achievement on the ground has not taken care of their aspirations. This is called unsatisfactory employment. A large number of people supported Hardik Patel, a leader of the Patidar community. They (youth) all attended rallies/meetings on motorbikes. They are not unemployed, but they are unsatisfactorily employed. This is the real issue to be addressed.
You have described the Manmohan Singh period as the “lost period for economic reforms”. What shifts do you see in the Modi government?
The Manmohan Singh government introduced legislation such RTE Act and MGNREGA for the welfare of the poor. But laws/Acts alone are not enough. This government is very conscious that the capitalist economy has the tendency to leave the (poor) people behind. The government has taken the issue of poverty very seriously and has given thrust to implementation of schemes. Schemes such as Direct Benefit Transfer, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao are launched to empower the poor though directly linking their bank accounts through Aadhaar to plug the leakage. e-governance has been given a major focus.
But the Congress has been alleging that the NDA government has cut allocations for poverty-oriented schemes such as MGNREGA, midday meal, and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
No ... This is false propaganda. The government has increased allocations for health and education sectors.
When do you see the Goods and Services Tax regime getting stabilised?
Give us time and you will see that in the next 18 months. Formalisation of the economy will give a fillip to tax compliance. At present, tax compliance is between 40 to 43%. It must increase to 90%.
Niti Aayog has plans to hire young talent/professionals to bring in fresh ideas. Any progress on that front?
Of course. We have 50 to 60 young people with MBA, Ph.D degrees from best universities in the world. The government has given flexibility to hire young professionals at all levels.
