On the completion of one month in the office, PM Modi has rightly reassured the nation that every decision of the government has been guided solely by national interest and that the government is committed to taking India to greater heights in the years to come. This was necessary as he is well aware of the hard decision he will have to take to fulfill high expectaEarlier also he explicitly said that tough decisions over the next couple of years to improve the country’s financial health, which he said may not go down well with some sections. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has also indicated his budgetary line while saying, “Fiscal disciplining is required to put the economy back on track as India has witnessed two successive years of 5 per cent growth. But any kind of fiscal indiscipline at this stage will put us in further doldrums. At this time you will require to take some decisions to make sure that the economy is put back on the track.”
| We need to earmark at least 6 per cent of the total budget for education with special focus on primary education. Apart from it, the focus should be to channelise the energy of unemployed youth in social activities. The government should make adequate budgetary provisions for constitution of a National Commission for Education and also an Indian Education Service (IES) like the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) so that the quality of education can be improved. The Curriculum framed in 2005 has also to be revised as per the changing needs of the nation. — Dinanath Batra, noted educationist |
Top priorities of the new government are containing inflation, creating jobs and reviving growth. Fiscal deficit and economic slowdown have come with a decade of jobless growth. Accelerating the growth momentum containing inflation and altering the pattern of growth to gainful employment is today’s over-riding challenge. There is a need to boost domestic manufacturing. With a possible dificient monsson government also preparing to deal with a definite challenge of cooling prices. There are definite concerns about the slowdown of the economy. India’s GDP growth during 2013-14 has marginally been higher than the last year 4.5 per cent. This is for the first time in 26 years after 1987-88 that India’s GDP has grown at below 5 per cent for two successive years. Galvanising Growth Potential
There are some positive signals with a strong government at the Centre. It is not just the stock markets that are upbeat. Strong sentiments driven by higher confidence lifts the bar of growth in most categories including real estate and consumer durables. The automobile Industry has also started growing further. The financial budget will spell out first round of details. The Government is seriously thinking to wipe out diesel subsidy and similar mechanism for cooking gas likely. There is a possibility of some concession to small tax payers. Industrial and manufacturing policy will be improved faster. There will be emphasis on developing cost competitive manufacturing initiative.
| The future of India’s agriculture depends a lot on developing a suitable sustainable and economically feasible crop protection exercise. Only a good crop care regime can save country’s future. The forthcoming budget should discourage loan waivers to the farmers it is not a real solution. Instead Government should empower the farmers through Soil Governance where Soil Health Card is provided to carry crop wise recommendations of nutrients/fertilizers required for farms. —Dr M J Khan, Chief Editor, Agriculture Today |
Today, Indian farmers are in a terrible condition, bearing the brunt of droughts or floods, disease and pests, crashing prices at the farm gate and soaring costs of agricultural inputs. Power supply for agriclture is another concern. Today without electricity, farmers run pumps using diesel generators which produce electricity priced at Rs. 18 per unit. Farm productivity has to go up in a predictable way.
We need good roads and a multi model transport system as well as retail infrastructure. The economy has to grow its purchasing power. Good government can only deliver the supporting infrastructure. Now all ministers and officers right from cabinet secretary down are burning the midnight oil and working solutions to the problems created by UPA Government. They are identifying deliverable goals. They may shun populism and focus on a concrete plan to fix the struggling economy it has inherited from UPA Government. Over all, the mood is very upbeat among the heads of various ministers. People are waiting to see the effect of the galvanisation by Modi. Much hard work lies ahead for Modi.
-V. Shanmuganathan
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