New Delhi: As the BJP heads for its last full-fledged budget before the general elections next year, former cabinet secretary and member of planning commission B K Chaturvedi feels the government has not done enough on the economic front and has rehashed policies from previous regimes.
“On economic reforms, by and large, this government has followed the earlier government’s policies by renaming many of those things whether we see loan for small-scale industries where you call it Mudra or any other name. The policies are the same,” Chaturvedi said.
The goods and services tax (GST) was originally perceived during the UPA-1 regime, he said.
“The only independent policy that they had a setup on their own was demonetisation, which in my opinion was poorly conceived and poorly implemented. It really cost an enormous amount of hardships to the people resulting in deaths as well,” Chaturvedi added.
Talking about the need to have an independent economic advisory council to the Prime Minister, he said, “The current council is just an extension of the Niti Aayog. They needed someone of a greater eminence. They needed someone whom the PM could independently consult.”
The former bureaucrat estimated that the budget will have to come up with a firm scheme on minimum support prices (MSP).
“MSP has to go beyond just being a paper exercise. The government has to announce a longer-term policy for MSP in the upcoming budget because next year they will not be able to and then there are the elections. That will give hope to the farmers. The earlier government raised the MSP every year. This has larger implications, which can go on to reduce farmer suicides as well because farmers are not able to pay back loans,” Chaturvedi said.
The National Crime Record Bureau recorded 12,607 farmer deaths in 2015 with more than 87% deaths cotton-growing areas.
“Most of the deaths take place for those farmers whose crops take a lot of money and they fail. Crops like cotton particularly, especially in the areas of Vidharba in Gujarat, for BT Cotton. They must especially identify those crops and have a special scheme for those areas than a general scheme,” Chaturvedi said.
The former member of the planning commission as part of his budget suggestions said, “Credit must flow in the market. They have passed a law to resolve the NPA question, but just passing the law won’t solve the problem. The earlier government also had this problem. They have to do it sector wise and needs to be monitored.”
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