India Economic Survey 2017: President's speech signals a populist Budget ahead

Chaitanya GudipatyMoneycontrol

President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday appeared to lay the foundations for a populist Budget when he drew parallels between the Champaran movement in the independence struggle and the poor’s strength of character in the ongoing battle against black money.Mukherjee, in his address to Parliament ahead of the crucial Budget Session, said that Champaran, whose centenary is being celebrated this year, gave a new direction to the freedom struggle, channelising ‘jana shakti’. He said the resilience demonstrated by the poor in the fight against black money and corruption was remarkable.“At the core of all my government's policies is the welfare of the garib, dalit, pidit, shoshit, vanchit, kisan, shramik and yuva,” Mukherjee said in his address.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government demonetised high-value currency notes in November, leading to long lines at ATMs and a cash crunch that threatened to throw the economy out of gear. The move was seen as a movement against the corrupt rich and drew support from the poor despite their own troubles.Analysts have expected that the Budget will be used to reward the poor for their display of character in the weeks following the November announcement, and to alleviate any pain they may be feeling as a result of a cash shortage.Mukherjee, whose term expires later this year, said that the government was committed to the welfare of the needy, adding that financial inclusion was key to poverty alleviation.Modi’s government has pushed hard to bring the unbanked masses into the formal economy through schemes such as Jan Dhan Yojana. The President said that 260 million Jan Dhan accounts had been opened so far, and 200 million Rupay cards had been issued for cashless payments.While the aim of the demonetisation exercise was initially articulated as one meant to stamp out black money, it quickly transformed into a drive to go cashless, and the Rupay cards are expected to play a big part in this drive, along with mobile wallets.Over Rs 16,000 crore had been made available to self-help groups and to take the banking system to the doorstep of the poor and the unbanked, the India Post Payments Bank has been started, the President noted, adding that 130 million poor had been covered under various social security schemes.Data released at the beginning of the month showed that the economy will likely grow at 7.1 percent in 2016-17, 0.5 percentage points slower than the previous year’s 7.6 percent expansion, underlining fears of an economy-wide cash-crunch due to demonetisation. Projections were based on incomplete output and corporate income data, amid signs of faltering investment and weak consumer spending, leading to fears that the actual numbers could be worse.Assuring the farmers about the government’s focus on agriculture, Mukherjee said: “My government has taken various steps to transform the lives of our farmers. Focus has been on holistic development of agriculture sector — making available affordable credit, ensuring assured supply of seeds and fertilisers, improving irrigation facilities, comprehensive risk coverage, improving productivity through Soil Health Cards, assured market and remunerative prices for the produce through e-NAM (National Agriculture Market).”

He repeatedly stressed that the government was committed to farmers’ welfare. “The corpus of NABARD fund has been doubled to Rs 41,000 crore to ensure easy credit access to farmers,” he said.

Mukherjee lauded the performance of female Indian athletes at the Rio Olympics and said the government wants to empower women.  “Our women deserve equal opportunity. The Rio Olympics, where we took great pride in the performance of PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Deepa Karmakar and others, illustrates the strength of our women…. The nation is proud of its first three women fighter pilots. This reminds us of what we can achieve, as a nation, if women are fully empowered, and if their skills and talent are optimally utilised,” he said.