Universal Basic Income
[ or ; Undisputed Bad Idea ? ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* WHAT IS THE
BIGGEST ISSUE BEFORE THE HUMANITY ?
WORLD-WIDE
* Richest 1 % of
people world-wide , own more wealth than the rest ( 7 billion )
* A mere 8
persons control more than half the World's wealth, in 2016
IN INDIA
* A mere 57
billionaires in India, now have same wealth ( $ 216 Billion ) as that of the
bottom 70 % of the population ( approx 910
Million people ! )
* The total Indian wealth in the country is Rs
21,14,100 Crores
* Of the world's poorest people , 27 % live in
India
* According to Socio-Economic and Caste Census
( SECC ) , released in Dec 2016 :
About 74.5% of
rural households the income of the breadwinner is less than Rs.5000 per month.
That’s about 13.34 crore households out of total 17.9 crore rural households.
Another 3.08 crore households or about 17% of
the total, had incomes between Rs.5000 and Rs.10,000. Adding these two up gives
a shocking picture of rural poverty and deprivation – in some 92% rural
households, the highest earner is getting not more than Rs.10,000 per month
* Some 1.2 Million children ( under 5 ) die
each year due to mal-nutrition
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT THREAT DOES IT POSE
TO INDIA ?
* Given this dismal inequity, unless some very serious - and
sincere - effort is undertaken by NDA government to " reduce " the
poverty , we can expect a country-wide social unrest and militancy, a thousand
times graver than the Naxalite agitation for equity
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT IS INDIA GOVERNMENT
RESPONSE TO THIS ?
Income
transfer scheme on cards to help address POVERTY ; may be announced in budget
The
government is considering an ambitious INCOME TRANSFER scheme
that could form the basis of a national SOCIAL SECURITY system
The idea is being discussed as a
means of addressing POVERTY and if a decision is
reached, it could be announced in the February 1 BUDGET by FM Arun Jaitley .
“There is a thinking... pros and
cons of having such a scheme are being examined,“ said a government official.
Providing
Rs. 1,500 a month to an estimated 200 million poor
will cost the government about Rs. 3 lakh*crore, resources that may be
difficult to come by.
The
debate is between a widely accessible UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME that
may stretch the social security net too thin and targeting specific
groups.
The
target group is said to include unemployed people
with no source of income.
Some
policymakers are confident that Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts and the
Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011 will facilitate
a targeted scheme if a universal basic income cannot be provided.
“ My personal view is in favour of
targeted instead of universal transfers,“ Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind
Panagariya told ET in an interview last month.
“With the Socio-Economic
and Caste Census, we have a pretty
good idea of who the poor are. So we can use the limited fiscal resources more
effectively to combat poverty... I lean in favour
of a strategy that places a larger volume of cash in the pockets of the poor
than the one that gives cash to everyone in smaller amounts.“
{ Source : Economic
Times ( 17 Jan 2017 ) report titled :
" Modi Sarkar Dials Social Security Number "
}
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILL THIS APPROACH SOLVE THE PROBLEM ? IF NOT, WHY ?
* I think the proposed Universal Basic
Income scheme will not solve the problem . It
may even worsen the situation by institutionalizing a " DEPENDENCY CULTURE " among the
recipients , who will forever
look up to the " SARKAR MAA BAAP " to feed them !
There is a danger that , in order to continue receiving the
monthly DOLE , the
recipients
may never make any effort to rise above the POVERTY LINE !
Any amount of money received under UBI Scheme will get spent , and never " Empower /
Equip " the person with " Knowledge / Skills " to earn his own living and rise above
poverty line
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT WOULD BE THE RIGHT APPROACH ?
* Right approach would be : " Do not give
fish to a hungry man / teach him how to fish "
In short , empower them to earn their own
living by teaching them " Skills " and by
gaining " Experience " in use of
those skills
Entire cost of this
" Skilling " and " Experiencing " to be borne by the Government , till
each targeted poor / unemployed person ,
either gets gainfully employed or becomes
self-employed
Should he choose to
become Self-Employed ( by registering as a " Start Up " ), exempt
him from paying Personal
Income Tax for
next 10 years
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW TO TRANSLATE THIS
" SELF HELP " CONCEPT INTO PRACTICE ?
Divide
the implementation in following 3 phases
* Empowering
- 3 years ( Imparting Skills in Industrial Training Institutes )
* Experiencing
- 3 years ( Providing experience in Ind / Commercial Establishments )
* Self-dependence Phase ( Working in a
gainful job or as Self Employed )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT SKILLS WILL GET
PROVIDED IN ITI ?
Entire
range of Manufacturing Industry related skills being currently imparted plus a
whole
host of commercial skills required by E Commerce / Fintech / Agriculture
Processing
/ Payment Banks / Service Sector / BPO /
Telecom and other emerging sectors
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW SHALL WE MOTIVATE UNEMPLOYED YOUTH TO JOIN ITIs ?
* Each
trainee will receive Rs 1000 pm ( for course duration of 3 years )
This amount will get deposited in Jan Dhan
bank account of trainee ( DBT )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW CAN WE GET
PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PHASE ?
* If a Private firm or individual comes forward
to set up such a Training Institute ,
#
Treat it as an Infrastructure SPV
# No
questions asked as to the source of funds for setting up such ITI
{
a kind of Amnesty Scheme to convert Black Money into White Money }
# A
government grant of Rs 1,000 pm per trainee to such SPV ( DBT in Bank A/C )
If
this is done , expect 10,000 SPVs to come up within one year and 10 million
youth to
get
trained each year !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW CAN WE GET INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS TO
PROVIDE
EXPERIENCE TO TRAINEES PASSING OUT OF ITIs ?
* Amend Apprenticeship Act
* Allow all Industrial and Commercial
Establishments to engage ANY NUMBER of
apprentices ( without upper limit ) , for a
period of 3 years
* Starting stipend = Min of Semi-Skilled wages
( currently , approx Rs 6,000 pm )
* Annual Increment = 5 %
* Establishment to pay 75 % of stipend
* Government to pay 25 % of stipend ( DBT into
Jan Dhan account of the Apprentice )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW CAN WE ENSURE A "
LEAKAGE PROOF " DISBURSEMENTS OF DBT AMOUNTS ?
* Through implementation
of Mobile based Attendance System , outlined in my blog,
{ http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/06/from-bad-to-mad.html
}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW WILL MY
SUGGESTION HELP ?
* It will solve the
problem of poverty organically / permanently
* It will prevent " Dependency Culture
" ( looking up to Sarkar Maa Baap for everything )
* It will enable poor to
retain their " Self Respect / Dignity "
* The money spent by
government will create highly productive " Human Assets "
* It will overcome the
" Skills Shortages " experienced by the Economy
* It will create
gainful " Self Employment " for millions of poor
* It will make India ,
a " Low Cost Economy " , able to export its goods and services
* It will channelize Black Money into a "
Nation Building " exercise
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILL GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENT MY SUGGESTION ?
* Very unlikely
!
By handing out
freebies and thereby keeping poor " dependent on dole " forever ,
politicians assure themselves of permanent
" Vote Banks " !
If all those currently enjoying "
Reservations " ( of umpteen types ) were to become
"
meritorious " and start earning Rs 50,000 per month , they would not care
a bit for
those " Reservations " !
And if people stop caring for reservations
, what " cause " can politicians espouse ?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Shri
Narendrabhai Modiji ,
I
request you to ponder on my suggestion in light of the following quote of
another
Narendra
( Swami Vivekanand ) :
"
Education, education, education alone !
Travelling
through many cities of Europe and observing in them the comforts and education
of even the poor people, there was brought to my mind the state of our own poor
people, and I used to shed tears.
What
made the difference? Education was the answer I got.
Through
education comes faith in one's own Self, and through faith in one's own Self
the inherent Brahman is waking up in them.[Source] "
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21 January
2017
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs