Worried government seeks out ministries, departments to address their problems, may even break convention & present a full budget this time around.
New Delhi: With an eye on the Lok Sabha elections, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has frantically reached out to all key economic ministries and departments — agriculture, commerce, micro, small and medium enterprises, among others — besides seeking data and details on the immediate challenges that they face.
Sources within the Modi government acknowledged that there was “some panic” among the top leadership with most economic indicators not being very encouraging.
India’s GDP growth slowed to 7.1 per cent in the second quarter of the current financial year compared to 8.2 per cent in the first quarter. Besides, the agrarian distress, tepid growth in exports and the failure of the Narendra Modi government to create adequate jobs have hit the headlines.
Sources said that the government could even marginally exceed the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent set for the current financial year to accommodate the major demands from these sectors.
“Finally there has been some reckoning of the situation,” a senior government official told ThePrint on condition of anonymity. “The PMO has now sprung into action and there is an urgent need to roll out prescriptions with a 60-day horizon.”
Sources said that internal meetings, especially pertaining to jobs and the farm sector, have been held recently.
Also read: Misra gets the better of Mishra in PMO, with Amit Shah lurking around
Breaking tradition with full budget?
On Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, speaking at a CNBC-TV18 function from New York, where he is currently undergoing treatment, admitted that there were concerns about the country’s growth rate. He also indicated that the government could break the convention of presenting just a vote on account in an election year and instead present a full budget on 1 February.
Sources added that deviating from tradition, there could some announcements even on the tax front as the government may woo the middle class. The government is also expected to roll out a booster dose for the country’s trading community, mostly categorised as unorganised.
This sector, comprising thousands of small retailers, was one of the worst impacted by demonetisation and the subsequent implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Sources said that the “special package” for them will facilitate cheaper loans through an interest subvention scheme and insurance facilities.
The Modi government has already announced 10 per cent reservation for the economically poor in the general category.
What ever be the suggestion, the outcome will be freebies subsidies reservation loan waivers. Jai Karl marxa.
Que sera sera. The first priority of the next economic team – actually, it will be spoilt for choice – should be to restore the fidelity and sanctity of public accounts and statistics.