"Indians are poor but India is not a poor country", said one of the Directors of Swiss Bank. He says, Rs 280 lack crore amount of ill-gotten money is stashed in Swiss Banks, sufficient to fund taxless budget for 30 years. It can yield 60 crore jobs. It is sufficient to build 4-lane roads to all villages from Delhi. Sufficient to pay Rs 2000/- to every citizen for next 60 years. India will not need any World Bank or IMF loan.
Even presuming this report is exaggerated, it should be enough to open our eyes.
Dr Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, is the main contributor to the pre-Budget Economic Survey for 2009-10. The 420-page document, tabled in Parliament on 25 February 2010, has on its cover a diagram depicting the concept of “coupons equilibrium”, a theory that plays an important role in providing the micro-foundations for Keynesian macroeconomics. Dr Basu turned a new leaf, defining the parameters to evaluate the inclusive economic growth, so important for the country like India. Here are the parameters proposed by Basu:
(a)Economic growth: Instead of GDP measure the growth in per capita income of the bottom 20% (quintile) population.
(b)Food coupons: Help the poor directly, instead of trying to control process. He suggests that the subsidy on the food should be given directly to the household or the farmer, respectively, instead of giving to the public distribution system or the fertilizer manufacturer.
(c)Labour rights: Create market conditions that result in greater demand for labor sothat their demands can be realistically met by the market forces.
(d)Food inflation: During the periods of high food inflation, release small quantities of food grains in multiple locations at prices substantially below the market, instead of distributing grains through millers and traders.
(e)Cost cutting: Instead of managing then nitty gritty, create conductive environment to manage the costs.
(f)Social awareness: Spread awareness about the positive social qualities for progress. Societies endowed with personal integrity and trustworthiness have natural advantage geared to progress, as the third party regulation is not needed.
