UNION BUDGETS 2014-24: An Analysis

Description

During the past decade, leading economists/ academicians/ intellectuals have been full of praise about the Modi Government’s economic policies. India is set to become a $10 trillion within the next decade. The Prime Minister recently unveiled a plan to make India a developed country by 2047. The Finance Minister proclaims India to be the fastest growing major economy in the world. The Economic Survey claims that: multidimensional poverty in the country has steeply fallen during the past decade; unemployment numbers have declined to historic lows; and government spending on social services has shown a rising trend since FY16 … How true are all these claims?

This book compares the claims made in the annual Economic Survey and the Finance Minister’s budget speech with the hard data in the Union Budget papers of the past ten years—the latter reveal the actual priorities of the government. The conclusions are startling.

Neeraj Jain is a social activist and writer. He has a B.Tech. from IIT Varanasi. He is the convenor of Lokayat, an activist groups based in Pune. He is also the editor of Janata Weekly, India’s oldest socialist magazine. He has authored several books, including Globalisation or Recolonisation?, Education Under Globalisation: Burial of the Constitutional Dream, Nuclear Energy: Technology from Hell, and Essays on Contemporary Indian Economy.

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Praises for the book:

“This book goes far beyond an analysis of a decade of Union Budgets of the Government of India, to provide a careful and clinical assessment of official claims and actual economic realities over this period. In the process, it demolishes many myths about Indian economic performance and points to other more equitable and sustainable trajectories based on alternative policies.” – Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

“This book is a welcome addition to the literature on assessing the true state of affairs in the Indian economy. It should be easily accessible to the lay readers, given its simple style and the data presented, especially for those who are looking for substantiation by facts. It ought to help develop a more complete understanding of the reality of the Indian economy and especially of the common people.” – Arun Kumar, Retd. Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

“Neeraj Jain has created a book that has emerged not only as a serious economic reference book but additionally as an essential reader that all educational institutions should utilise extensively. By interlinking what I consider as the four essential components of any serious research—analysis, accountability, advocacy and action—this seminal book will surely serve to further the knowledge and practice of students, teachers, policy makers, activists, and all those concerned with the fulfilment of the rights enshrined in our Constitution.” – Ritu Dewan, Professor & Director (R), Mumbai School of Economics & Public Policy, University of Mumbai

“Although the title of this book promises to engage with the Union Budgets of the Government of India during the last decade, it delivers much more than that, by delving into a range of critical issues pertaining to the country’s economic journey and its performance since 2014. It does so with admirable competence and succeeds in exposing the hyperbole of the ‘great success’ claimed by the Union Government led by Mr. Narendra Modi during this period. Of course, several chapters in the book examine the relationship between the Union Budgets and overall socio-economic performance, with care and finesse, to buttress the logic and the arguments that the author puts forth. Furthermore, the book also does a creditable job in providing a sketch of a road for an inclusive and equitable socio-economic transformation. In short, it is indeed an important book for all those interested in India’s recent economic journey, its major pitfalls, and possible alternatives.” – Praveen Jha, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.