On May 12, 2020, Narendra Modi gave a nationally televised speech in which he announced that there would be an announcement about the government’s 20 lakh crore stimulus package. I spent the last week listening to interminable, and ultimately disappointing, proposals from the Finance Minister. Many commentators have spoken about how this is a liquidity package and not a stimulus. Others have talked about how this is just repackaging of already existing schemes for optics.
I would not like to waste time on criticising the policies that the Finance Minister has announced. I would like to outline what she should have done to make history and put the Indian economy on track to a spectacular recovery.
The unprecedented drop in output highlighted one major fact: most Indians cannot withstand even a few days of loss of income. This is unacceptable. India’s billion strong population deserves better than starvation and death at a time like this. Every single person in the country should be guaranteed a minimum level of income of at least Rs.10,000, unhindered by any conditions.
Many of today’s right wingers will consider this anathema. However, they will be surprised to learn that one of the most influential supporters of UBI was Frederick Hayek, the founder of the Neo-liberal school of economics. Hayek’s support of basic income revolved around the idea that to be truly free, individuals should be able to make choices independent of where they get their income from.
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