‘Idea of a resilient India is driving the policy package that is being laid out’
NEWDELHI: Former Union minister and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on finance, Jayant Sinha, tells Smriti Kak Ramachandran the priority of the Narendra Modi government is to strengthen India and to make it resilient. The package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the measures announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman are aimed at making India a competitive nation, he said. Excerpts:
Small enterprises had a long list of demands. Has the government addressed those?
The PM has been very clear that the idea of a resilient India is driving the policy package that is being laid out. As the finance minister explained today, there have been several tranches, which have dealt with a number of most urgent issues. We have provided food, gas cylinders, cash support for the most vulnerable sections of society. Now, what we also had to do is to address the requirements of the MSME sector...
What the finance minister has done today has squarely addressed all of the urgent concerns raised by the sector.
Will going local be a priority for the government?
The priority for the government is to strengthen India... We want to first make India a very competitive nation so that our local companies, products and services are purchased by the domestic consumers and by consumers around the world. One aspect of being resilient is that our local companies are as competitive as possible. The other is to attract global companies to invest in India. Global and local are two sides of the same coin...
A lot of people equate going local with protectionism, which in turn is limiting. There has also been criticism of efforts by states to amend labour laws.
The PM was very clear and said India must contribute to global growth... and that is why I said we have to strengthen our local companies and be an attractive investment destination for global companies. To that end there many aspects of production that we have to address; labour being one of them. The PM said we have to address all factors of production, whether it is land, labour, liquidity and laws so we are globally competitive.
Congress says there is nothing for workers walking home? There are no cash transfers.
We are running many Shramik specials (trains) and many state government have also made arrangements for buses so people who want to return to rural areas can do so...then in rural areas tremendous amount of support has been provided.
There is also a demand that the union government should borrow more and spend more; and allow states to do so too.
That is already what we are doing; the government has announced that instead of ~7.8 lakh crore borrowing they are going to do ~12 lakh crore borrowing...The states have got relief through the ways and means account so they can also borrow more.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram said the PM’s announcement was intended to grab headlines, but that the page is however, blank.
The page is being filled out day by day with substantial details. Today’s announcements will continue and there is a very comprehensive document which will be circulated with all the details about Atmanirbhar Bharat.