Skip to main content

Right to layoff workers in Gujarat a major Modi "achievement" of the two years of NDA rule: Panagariya

By Our Representative
Top Narendra Modi aide Arvind Panagariya believes, one of the major achievement of his boss is his ability to push through the exit policy in India. Thus, he says, in Gujarat, firms of all sizes located in the special economic zones (SEZs), special investment regions (SIRs) and national investment and manufacturing zones (NIMZs) have “the right to lay off workers” at will.
Economist at the Columbia University hired by the Prime Minister to run Planning Commission successor Niti Aayog,Panagariya's statement comes amidst failure of SEZs to pick up in Gujarat and strong opposition to SIRs being planned at a dozen odd spots, with the Gujarat government thinking of abandoning many of them, including the one in Dholera, south of Ahmedabad.
Panagariya, who has written an article to mark Modi's current visit to the US, circulating it through his Twitter account, says, other major achievements of the NDA government include 100 percent FDI in defence through the approval route, 100 percent FDI in in marketing of food products produced in India and 49 percent FDI in insurance.
Refusing to recall "achievements" in health, education and environment, Panagariya blames it on “space considerations” which “do not allow” to report on the “progress” in social sectors.” The “achievement” he recounts is “enhanced efficiency through rapid expansion of biometric identity based direct benefit transfers that eliminate multiple accounts in the name of the same beneficiary and ghost accounts.”
Without giving any figures, Panagariya says, the government has “also chosen empowerment over entitlement and thus focused on accelerating building of rural roads, electrification of villages and broadband connectivity. With the groundwork, thus, in place, we can count on growth and the progress in reducing poverty accelerating yet further in the years to come.”
Calling his view “strictly personal”, Panagariya claims that the GDP of India reached 7.6 percent in 2015-16, even as refusing to go into the latest the controversy surrounding it, with top consulting firm Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) calculating it at 5.2 percent, down from 7.2 percent a year ago, and blaming the latest 7.6 percent figure based on inflated “discrepancies”.
Praising the Modi government for neutralizing certain “counter-productive measures” of the UPA such as the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, Panagariya says, the government now seeking to unveil “a model land-leasing law to help modernize tenancy laws across states.”
Asserting that the “turnaround” under Modi has come on the “back of concerted efforts at accelerating infrastructure building” , Panagariya cites such examples like roads construction “climbing up from 11.7 kilometer (7.2 miles) per day in 2013-14 to to 16.5 km (10.2 miles) in 2015-16”, and “domestic civil aviation” improving, with “total number of passengers carried” having jumped “from 66.4 million in 2014 to 80.8 million in 2015.”
Panagariya further believes, “There has been a total absence of any allegations of corruption during the two-year tenure of the government.” He adds, “Often overlooked, this is a major achievement in a country that has seen corruption scandals break out under virtually every government in recent decades.”
In yet another claim, Panagariya says, “The wealth of crony capitalists in India has fallen to 3 percent of the GDP in 2016 from 18 percent of the GDP in 2008.”

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.