The BJP Government was enthusiastic to adorn the 75th year of Independence with a high-sounding name. Because of that, people every day read and hear the term ‘Amritvarsh’. The word suggests a year in which life would be victorious over death. However, the ‘Amritvarsh’ of India is characterised by unprecedented price hikes on all the necessities of life. The people of India find it increasingly difficult to cope up with the shooting prices and their diminishing income. The rise in prices of vegetables last year was around Rs. 80-100 for a kilogram, which this year costs Rs. 100-120 for the same. While the LPG used to cost Rs. 450 two years ago for a common family with Government subsidy, with Modi’s Government ‘masterstroke’ to remove subsidies, the LPG now costs a staggering Rs. 1050. The prices of petrol face a strange fate in the country, wherein prices decline before elections and increase afterward while being controlled by ‘market forces.’ The only thing that has remained stagnant is the income.
The GST exercise of the Government has been felt as a heavy blow to the common people. The latest GST rate hike was not against luxury goods but the day-to-day essentials of a common family. Items such as curd and paneer which were previously exempted from GST will now have a five percent charge of GST. Even daily staples such as wheat, rice and flour are not free from GST. One would wonder, what the Government intends by raising funds from commodities that affect the poorest the most, all amidst a global-supply chain crisis! And in the middle of all this hullabaloo sits the Union Finance minister who has come out with her justifications. But such a futile exercise will not find an escape route for the Indian economy, which is already on a downward slide. It is true that the Finance minister devotionally strives to become the committed exponent of ‘Modinomics’. But with all their overtime rhetoric and hard work, the ‘Amritvarsh’ is turning out to be a botched painting.
As per the Government’s State of Inequality Report, the top 10 percent of the country earn merely Rs. 25,000 a month. One could imagine the State of those on the other side of the table. Adding to all of these is the declining Indian Rupee. The State Bank of India chairperson, while admitting this would cause ‘short-term pains’, said, “It (further fall in the rupee) is required, otherwise exports will become unviable. It is important to maintain parity. It can be achieved only if the rupee is allowed to depreciate further.” His words are the warning signal for the salaried people and the downtrodden. Their lives are going to be further miserable. All in all, India must learn her lessons from neighbouring Sri Lanka. And these lessons are a must for policymakers and the Government. It is important for the Government to learn that divisive politics might give temporary electoral relief, but only real development with people-friendly policies can save any nation from disaster.
