RE: UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

 Dear Manish,

 

 

I read your very valid arguments why NYAY is not such a good idea

 

[  It simply doesn’t work / Eco Times  ]

 

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 ?

 

 

==========================================================

 

26  March  2019

 

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com