By Pervez Bari
Bhopal, September 28: The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has expressed deep concern over the declining economy of the country which appears to be in a mess. If one’s own party member is criticising his own boss for the current economic crisis, then one can imagine how ineffective Prime Minister and Finance Minister are.
SDPI national president A. Sayeed in a statement has said that what former BJP’s Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has written in an article is correct and similar observations have been repeatedly made by many reputed Economists. It is a “Mirror in the Face” article. If the government closes its eyes, the scars in the face will not disappear. It is a blunt factual account. If we still choose to pass it off as political baiting, we are in for far bigger trouble as a nation. If the Govt continues to stay in denial mode then common man will all have to face the consequences.
Sayeed said the candid churning done by Mr. Yashwant Sinha is an awakening call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ways of running the country. Unfortunately, a kitchen cabinet headed by Mr. Modi runs the government without any wider consultation. It is another form of oligarchy. An oligarchic form of governance, bordering on “we are holier than others” attitude, is not the right way to address the issues facing the country. Taking the Opposition into confidence, listening to other views, and focusing on development are far more important than rhetorical speeches and pursuit of power by all means. Collective wisdom is the need of the hour.
Sayeed questioned why blame Finance Minister Arun Jaitley alone. Everyone knows he (Jaitley) also knows who the main actor is. Is it due to fear Yashwant has not mentioned his (Modi’s) name? Demonetisation was PM’s decision. Even FM was kept in the dark. There was pressure on FM to implement GST. All important decisions are taken by PM on economy, defence, foreign policy etc. The entire cabinet are mute spectators.
He lamented that it is so shameful to know that the government changed the GDP formula (method) just to show higher numbers and it is not a surprise that according to the UPA era GDP calculation the present growth rate is just 3.7! Only talking with no investment, no industry, no jobs and no employment is bad for the country. These are the known facts, maximum sectors are in distress because of Demo and followed by GST, but where are the visible corrective actions and experts to do that from ruling govt. Or will there be only shouting and criticism. Now, people have realized the fake Model of Modi. Opposition seems to be playing wait and watch game.
Sayeed said that only the hate campaign, vigilantism violence, goon culture by BJP, RSS and Shah. No investment, no industry, no jobs and no employment. On the flip side if the economy fails even worse, we call all become Gau Rakshaks – The only sector / industry that will continue to see growth. In a nutshell the ruling party is just fooling the people. BJP president Amit Shah and Modi together are trying for votes by money power and hate campaign.
The statement stated that there is a positive correlation between GDP and job creation. Jobs tend to increase with every point rise in GDP. The reverse is also true. The CRISIL, a global analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy advisory services, report pegs 13 million job aspirants per year and 5 million jobs annually created in both organised and unorganised sectors, leaving a gap of 8 million each year. Computed cumulatively over 5 years, are we staring at something more expansive? With GDP coming down this gap would only increase. No wonder, both demand and supply sides suffer in this “educated Vs job availability” equation getting skewed by the day. The reality of no jobs dawns on the young aspirants after money and time; both gone, making them drift to any possible employment opportunities. Plight of dropouts finding a job in the unorganised sector is just untenable. It may be nice to camouflage the failures of our economies and employment markets and blame all ills on intangibles, if it brings a smile to the hapless populace. Rhetoric apart, time we called spade a spade.
The statement said: “The entire world is looking at India and we keep making flimsy excuses for our under-performing government, inventing ingenious alibis for the political and economic inertia; feigning that all is well – hubris has become a national malady. We have indulged this government and allowed the political rhetoric and grandstanding to become a substitute for actual governance”. Yashwant Sinha has only said what other economists have been saying all this while. Will the Govt. listen to at least their own party veteran and ex-Finance Minister? (pervezbari@yahoo.co.in)