Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman tabled her first economic survey in the parliament on the 4th of July, Thursday, a day ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget 2019. The Survey was released in two volumes. The cover design of the Economic Survey featured inter-linked gears.
The Chief Economic Advisor(CEA) Dr. K V Subramaniam stated, ' The cover design of the economic survey captures the idea of investments, savings, exports, growth, and jobs being complementary therefore forming components of a 'Virtuous Cycle' with investment as the key driver.'
The theme of Economic Survey is to enable 'Shifting Gears' to accelerate and sustain a real GDP growth rate of 8%.
The CEA also talks about addition to the survey, inspired by Gandhiji's talisman of 'think of the weakest person and see how policies can be used to make their lives better.'
Here are the key ideas covered in different chapters of economic survey 2019:
1. 5 Trillion Economy:
The survey sketches out a blueprint to achieve the objective of India becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25 . Investment has been said to be the key driver in economic growth of the country.
2. Data 'Of the people, for the people, by the people'
The survey foresees data as a public good in the age of digitization. It suggests merging different datasets of public held by the government, however within the legal framework of data privacy.
3. Policies For MSME Growth:
The survey focuses on creating policies for the MSMEs that will help them to grow, make greater profits and thus contribute to the employment generation and economic growth. The MSMEs will be given a priority in lending, they will also get the benefit of 10 year sunset clause.
4. Clearing 100% Cases:
The survey talks about in making investments in having judges in the supreme court and the high court. The government will be adding 2,279 judges in the lower court and 93 in the high court with the objective of clearing 100% cases and improving the judicial system in India. The survey claims to clear all backlog cases in 5 years.
5. Decline in Economic Policy Uncertainty:
The survey also claims that the economic policy uncertainty has declined in the past five years in India amidst its increase globally.
6. Change in the names of Government Policies:
The survey said that the Swachh Bharat Mission has majorly improved health outcomes by covering almost 99% of rural India during the last five years. It also suggested changing the names of various government schemes to give a more clear picture about their objectives. The survey suggests the following changes:
- From 'Give It Up' for the LPG Subsidy to 'Think About LPG Subsidy.'
- From 'Swachh Bharat' to 'Sundar Bharat.'
- From 'tax evasion' to 'tax compliance.'
- From 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' to 'BADLAV(Beti Aapki Dhan Lakshmi Aur Vijay Lakshmi)'
7. Technology and Government Schemes:
The survey claims that the use of technology has increased the benefits of Government Schemes like MGNREGAs manifold since 2015. There has been a significant reduction in delay in payment of wages, demand and supply of work has also increased.
8. Minimum Wage Policy:
The survey says that 1 in every 3 wage worker in India is not protected by the Minimum Wage Law .It suggests an effective minimum wage policy under which a National Floor Minimum Wage will be notified by the government which will ultimately ensure sustainable and inclusive growth of the Indian Economy.
The Survey 'departs from traditional Anglo-Saxon thinking by viewing the economy as being either in a virtuous cycle, and thus never in equilibrium'.
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