A serious economic crisis is looming large in the country and the new government has its task cut out on the front, economist Prabhat Patnaik has said.
He was inaugurating the delegates’ session of the 53rd State conference of the Kerala Gazetted Officers Association (KGOA) here on Saturday.
‘‘Industrial production has shrunk. It will lead to industrial recession and unemployment will become acute. The open unemployment has already reached the highest in the last 45 years and inequality is higher than ever before,’’ Professor Patnaik said.
‘Increase spending’
He said the government should increase its spending. ‘‘The government can increase spending by borrowing, slapping various taxes and so on. But the best thing to do is taxing capitalists and the rich. To prevent a recession, the government should come out of the neo-liberal structure. It should pursue a policy where every citizen has the right to employment, right to food, right to universal and quality education, right to medical care and right to old age pension,’’ Prof. Patnaik said.
‘‘The new government is a continuation of Hindu supremacism. It is not confined to India alone. We are witnessing supremacism of one kind or the other in Israel, Turkey, Hungary, Ukraine and other parts of the world. Supremacist governments target minorities. After the collapse of neo-liberalism, the issue of development has taken a back seat and it is evident in the recently held Lok Sabha elections,’’ Mr. Patnaik said.
Former MP C.S. Sujatha, CITU district secretary P.P. Chitharanjan, CPI(M) district secretary R. Nazar and others spoke.
