UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

Dear Friends,

About the just announced NYAY scheme by Congress, I read about your reservations in today’s Times of India ( Universal basic income will hit fiscal situation, says think tank report )

In this context, you might like to look up my following blog

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

Mumbai

www.hemenparekh.in

Tuesday, 26 March 2019

What will win the War ?

It seems Congress is concerned more with winning the elections ( - the BATTLE )

Yesterday it announced a monthly payment of Rs 6,000 for 5 crore poor families – a version of UBI ( Universal Basic Income )

May be , after vainly trying umpteen different schemes  towards “ Garibi Hatao “ for over 60 years, Congress has concluded :

There is no way to “ hatao garibi “ . There is no way to reduce / eliminate poverty ( - the WAR )

For the next few days , experts / economists and TV panelists , will hotly debate the pros and cons of this Congress announcement

I doubt whether a single opponent of this announcement will point out the greatest psychological damage this scheme will do to the very people ( 5 crore poor families ) it is supposed to help

This scheme will try to consolidate / re-confirm their belief that :

“ Poverty is our birth right. We are born poor / will die poor. Our only “nirvana” from this abject poverty is death “

Will any expert dare to tell these poor :

“ You are being drugged with an opium called election

 . The design of the grand old party is to ensure that you remain poor forever – so that it can throw crumbs at you every 5 years, to induce you to vote for them “

I hope that the BJP spokesperson on the TV panel has the courage to say :

We do not believe in feeding fish to a hungry man. We believe in teaching him, how to fish

As against that Rs 6000 / month announced by Congress, we propose to spend Rs 5,000 / month to impart SKILL toANY person , so that he / she can use that acquired skill to earn an honorable living and pull himself out of the perpetual poverty

If voted to power, we promise to implement :

NITI Aayog suggests raising monthly training stipend to Rs 5,000    (   19   March  2019  )

We believe, any form of dole – by whatever name called – is :

Undisputed  Bad  Idea

-as explained in :

Universal  Basic  Income  ………………………….. 20  Jan  2017

The reason it is a bad idea is :

#  At its fundamental conceptual framework, a currency note denotes  “ Tangible Work “

#  Currency notes came into existence as a convenient way to “ Measure and Exchange “ , each other’s work

#  Handing over to anyone, a currency note without any exchange of WORK in return, is no more than getting

    someone else to put in that work

#  When a government , introduces UBI , it is handing out currency notes deposited in the exchequer by tax

    payers , ie: work put in by some other citizens

#  UBI may end up “ de-motivating “ the recipients from acquiring skills to pull themselves up with bootstraps

#  UBI will usher a “ dependency culture “ where the recipients always depend upon “ Sarkar Maa-Baap “

And , last but not the least :

#  Given the complexity of determining the target group – and its subsequent administering – UBI tends to become

    arbitrary / unwieldy and a breeding ground for corruption

Now , what could have emboldened the Congress to announce this scheme ?

Could it be a very high probability that it will never win enough seats in the LokSabha elections to form a government , and therefore, will not be called upon to implement this scheme ?

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26  March  2019

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com