Ordinary people ask me these questions in the hope there will be answers.
1. Notwithstanding the undoubted development, does the government believe there is high incidence of poverty in India? What is the proportion of the population that is poor? If the bottom 50% of the people own just 3% of the wealth (OXFAM), will they not be considered poor? Does the government agree with the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index that estimated that 16% of the population of India (₹22.4 crore) is poor? Whatever be the percentage, why does the government not talk about the poor? Why did the word 'poor' occur only twice in the 90-minute Budget speech on February 1, 2023?
Jobs and food
2. Does the government believe there is massive unemployment in India? Is it correct that the 'labour force' in India is about ₹47.5 crore and the 'labour force participation rate' (ie, people working or looking for work) is 48%? Why is the rest of the labour force - nearly ₹25 crore not working or not looking for work? Is it correct that between January 2020 and October 2022, the number of people working was 45,00,000 fewer among men and 96,00,000 fewer among women? Does the government agree with CMIE's estimate that the unemployment rate is 7.5%? Finally, why was the word 'unemployment' not uttered in the entire Budget speech?
This story is from the February 26, 2023 edition of Financial Express Mumbai.
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This story is from the February 26, 2023 edition of Financial Express Mumbai.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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