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Economic and Garib Kalyan Resolution

National Executive Committee Meeting

2, 3 July, 2022 ! Hyderabad, Telangana

Over the last eight years of the government under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm, India has been marching ahead on the key principles of Sabka Sath and Sabka Vokas. The key drivers of the growth story of India, the sixth-largest economy in the world, are, and will continue to be, the Prime Minister's vision of Atma-Nirbharata and Garib Kalyan.     India has indeed shown speedy growth since PM Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. The massive growth achieved in these eight years was the outcome of the Prime Minister's vision. We remember his victory speech barely a few hours after the sweeping win in the 2014 general election. One thing that stood was his promise for inclusive growth. He knew he had to make structural changes in the delivery system. During the Congress regime the schemes and policies were mostly on paper. There were holes in its delivery system. Pilferage was common. But Mr Modi's government implemented policies and programmes on the ground. His delivery system included last mile delivery. The secret of this success is the Prime Minister's mantra of 'sab ka sath, sab ka vikas', growth for all. The government schemes and programmes during the Congress regime were selective, they were often targeted at selected groups or caste who were their vote bank. The BJP government under the leadership of Mr Modi, ensured government schemes are meant for all.

Another paradigm shift in PM Modi jis thinking was to make India self-reliant or Atm Nirbhar.

Prime Minister Modi exuded confidence that we have the resources, we have the manpower, we have the best talent in the world. We will make the best products, improve the quality of 'Made in India' products and even more. The concept of Prime Minister Modi's self-reliant India is based on 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam'.- when India talks about self-reliance, it does not advocate for a self-centred system. In India's self-reliance, there is also concern for the happiness, cooperation and peace for the whole world.

Five areas have been chosen by Prime Minister Modi for pushing India towards the self-reliance goals: 

• Economy – An economy that brings quantum jump, not incremental change.

• Infrastructure – An infrastructure that becomes the hallmark of modern India. to attract foreign investments

• System – A system that involves adopting modern technology and increasing the use of digital technology in the society.

• Demography – Making best use of our Its vibrant and young demography.

• Demand – We have a large domestic market and demand segment, which needs to be tapped to its full potential.

Covid Relief and Recovery

Soon after assuming office, along with the entire world during the Covid-19 pandemic, India faced  unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic.   India not only succeeded in safeguarding its own people and extending a helping hand to almost 100 nations, but also emerged stronger. Efficient administration, well-calibrated policy responses and an unwavering commitment to serve 1.35 billion citizens underpinned the success.  

The vaccine production and rollout  program is a remarkable success story, and India administered more than 191 crore vaccine doses in 1½ years, Unlike the polio vaccine, for which India had to wait for 30 years after it was discovered abroad, for Covid-19, India not only developed its own indigenous Covid-19 vaccine called Covaxin almost immediately, but also produced together with it, on a partnership basis,Covishield, the vaccine developed abroad.  Upholding the government's motto of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam, India exported vaccines to about 100 nations. 
 
Health  infrastructure was vital for containing both mortality and morbidity through the pandemic and this infrastructure was ramped up rapidly in the last couple of years. For example, the number of beds in Intensive Care Units (ICU) in the country was increased from 2,168 in March 2020 to 1.39 lakh by January 2022. During the same reference period, with similar increases in number of isolation beds, oxygen-supported beds, Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA)plants (oxygen plants) across the country, and manufacturing capacity for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kit, it was a robust transformation of the country’s health infrastructure. 
Economic revival – initiatives and macro-outlook 

Covid-19 disrupted economic activity not only in India but also across almost all the countries in the world. Fears of infection affected labour force participation as well as employers’ willingness to engage workers.  In many cases, to contain the spread of infection, lockdowns imposed by governments affected economic activity. In an interconnected world, output disruption in one location broke down the supply-chain and affected economic activity in a host of locations.  With efficient management of the pandemic, rate of growth of GDP at constant prices in India which had gone down to -6.6 per cent in 2020-21, grew by an estimated 8.7 per cent in 2021-22. There are palpable signs of a resurgence in the housing market.  

Since the onset of the pandemic and Ukraine war, our government has taken many extraordinary measures. We have launched schemes and taken measures to benefit ordinary men and women of this great country directly. We have taken steps to give a leg up to small businesses

And of course all this needed a big injection of funds. Our PM has safeguarded the future of this country by launching some long term schemes. We salute the wisdom and farsightedness of our PM who has ensured that we do not spend beyond our means and do not punch above our weight to ensure that both Debt/GDP ratio and path to fiscal prudence  remains within the stated parameters of our government. 

Many have cherished the goal of India’s buoyant export performance.  There are signs of this goal being achieved.  Services exports in 2021-22 grew by 21.3 per cent to achieve the target of $250 billion. India’s overall exports (merchandise and services combined) in 2021-22 increased by 34.5 per cent to reach $669.65 billion. The value of iron and steel exports increased from $7.64 billion in 2013-2014 to $19.25 billion in 2021-2022. Similarly, export of electronic goods grew by 88 per cent in 8 years since 2013-14, that of tractors grew by 72 per cent and of engineering goods by 49 per cent. Exports of mobile telephones increased from around Rs. 1,300 crore in 2017-18 to about Rs. 43,000 crore in 2021-22.   

The government has maintained growth with strong macroeconomic fundamentals and this soundness is adequately reflected in investor sentiments.  There have been large increases in the number of registered investors. Foreign investors, like their domestic counterparts, have expressed their confidence by investing increasingly large sums.   FDI inflows touched a high of $83.5 billion in 2021-22. Prior to 2014, the previous high was $36.5 billion in 2013-14. 

Credit extended by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) grew by 8.6 per cent in 2021-22. The recovery of credit growth to pre-pandemic levels is an encouraging sign and is likely to accelerate overall economic growth. Some schemes have been launched keeping in mind future opportunities and building of ‘New India’. Some scheme such as The Production Linked Incentive(PLI) scheme that pushes job-intensive manufacturing,  It propels manufacturing in various sectors like large-scale electronics, solar, textile, LED light and automotive products. Scheme worth Rs. 1.97 lakh crore for 13 key sectors is being implemented with a large potential to create jobs in the manufacturing sector. Our government has acknowledged the dependency on global players for supply of micro chips. We are pleased to mention that PM Modi has taken initiative and given strong push  for manufacturing of micro chip to meet the growing demand of IT without depending on import.
Under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs), the government sanctioned Rs. 3.19 lakh crore. Rs. 1.8 lakh crore worth of assets were saved from becoming non-performing assets (NPAs). This support by the government saved 13.5 lakh MSMEs in the country which are vital for India’s industrial growth. The scheme not only provided financial cushioning to small and medium-scale enterprises but also saved 1.5 crores of jobs resulting in saving livelihood of nearly 6 crore people. The Reserve Bank of India in its Financial Stability Report of June 2022 said that the gross NPA ratio in March 2022 fell to a six-year low of 5.9 per cent.   

Another project that looks far into the future is PM GatiShakti - National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity. This Rs. 100 lakh crore multi-modal connectivity plan will provide integrated and seamless connectivity for the movement of people, goods and services from one mode of transport to another. It will facilitate the last mile connectivity of infrastructure and also reduce travel time for people. The sheer scale of this project means that thousands of jobs will be created in the infrastructure sector. 
The Prime Minister, having reviewed the human resources in all government departments, has promised to create 10 lakh government  jobs. Government announcement to recruit in “mission mode” will help job seekers in sectors such as defence, railways and revenue. The Agnipath scheme proposed by the Government will give a unique opportunity to the youth not only to fulfil their dream of joining the armed forces and serving the nation, but also empower, discipline and skill them.

The Government has maintained reasonable price stability in the last eight years.  Recently, there has been upward pressure on prices of commodities and  crude oil due to disruption in supply chain globally. It has resulted in both  Consumer Price Index (CPI)  and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) going up compared to previous months. The western world is experiencing the highest inflation in last 40 year. Despite high inflation in other countries and the geostrategic uncertainties, our Government has taken measures including repeatedly reducing the petrol and diesel prices to maintain reasonable price stability.  Inflation under Modi government is much lower than what India has seen during UPA regime when it has exceeded even 11%.

Goods and Services Tax (GST), introduced with the idea of “One Nation, One Market, One Tax,” has been acclaimed as the largest indirect tax reform in the history of India. Introduced to have a uniform tax on the supply of goods and services across the country, GST eliminated the multiplicity and cascading effects of taxes. It is a good measure of the economy's growth and it is a matter of some satisfaction that GST collections exceeded Rs. 1.68 lakh crore in April 2022. Significant efforts in audits and analytics have also led to a drive against tax evaders, inculcating a tax compliance culture. Going forward, it will be important to maintain the momentum and improve the tax compliance culture.
Poverty alleviation 

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was one of the largest national poverty alleviation schemes started in the backdrop of COVID. Under this scheme 80 crore people were given free ration for 25 months. The scheme has been under implementation since April 2020 and is the largest food security program in the world.  Under the scheme, the government has spent Rs. 2.60 lakh crore so far and another Rs. 80,000 crores will be spent over the next 6 months until September 2022.  PMGKAY has played a pivotal role in reducing extreme poverty, a role which has been recognised even by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Our Prime Minister's utmost priority is to uplift the farming community and improve their ease of living
Kisan Samman Nidhi is a game changer - About 1.82 lakh crores given to 11.78 crore farmers in 10 installments so far directly into their accounts 

In the five years from 2009 to 2014 (Manmohan government), there was a marginal increase of 8.5 percent in the agriculture budget.
At the same time, after the coming of Shri Narendra Modi government, between 2014 and 2019, about 38 percent in the agriculture budget
has increased. This figure is a proof of the farmer-friendly intention, policy and leadership of the Modi government.

Economic Benefits of Social Security Schemes 

Over decades, governments have been struggling with half-hearted approaches to addressing complex distributive justice and intergenerational social security problems. The BJP government has made policy-making inherently inclusive of the poorest sections of our society. At national and international forums, the Prime Minister has been the first to focus sharply on issues such as sanitation which is central to the well-being of the rural population. The design and effective implementation of nationwide schemes like SwacchBharat, Ujjwala, PM Awas Yojna, Saubhagya, and Jal Jeevan Mission have ensured that the lives of millions of poor people have been radically transformed. Their ease of living has improved manifold.
 
Jal Jeevan Mission aims to install tapped water in all households. The mission is aggressively working for the betterment of ‘quality of life’ and enhanced ‘ease of living’ for women who spend long, tiresome hours every day collecting water. 83 districts in the country have already become ‘Har Ghar Jal’ districts. Households with tap water connections have exponentially increased in the past two years. They have risen to over 9 crore which is 47.19 per cent of households an increase close to 17 per cent. This mission will be completed by 2024 when all the households in the country will have safe tapped water. 
 
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has provided concessional LPG connections, thus according women greater dignity by way of ownership of an amenity. The Ujjwala Yojana affords women a smoke-free environment and alleviates the drudgery of collecting fuelwood, saving them time and health issues. Lower subsidy allocation for LPG in Budget 2022-23 is a heartening indication of a near 99 per cent saturation of LPG penetration in India. These are long strides towards decreasing the carbon intensity of the country as announced by the Prime Minister in the Climate Change Conference (COP26) at Glasgow.
 
Social welfare schemes like Ayushman Bharat and SwacchBharat Abhiyan keep households from falling into the trap of health poverty. This accomplishment goes unnoticed as it's a product of prevention rather than cure. Ayushman Bharat guarantees quality medical care to the poorest 500 million Indians with a health insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually. 
 
Financial and Digital inclusivity
 
Financial and digital inclusivity were addressed early with the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and Digital India. Over 55 per cent of all Jan Dhan bank accounts are held by women, benefiting over 24.42 crore women. A study conducted by NABARD showed that, out of 11 million bank-linked self-help groups, exclusive women self-help groups are 9.7 million. With control over their own bank accounts, these women have access to an array of banking tools. 
 
The JAM trinity that is Jan Dhan account, Aadhaar and mobile together, is providing tremendous financial autonomy to women. These robust and nationally executed policies paid off in times of dire need like the COVID-19. Rs 30,944 crore (Rs. 500 over three months) was disbursed to women as Direct Benefit Transfers through Jan Dhan accounts. The JAM trinity has also ensured that benefits from more than 400 government schemes are transferred directly to the beneficiaries’ accounts without any intermediaries and concomitant leakages.  Furthermore, as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package, more than 14 crores of free LPG refills were provided to the Prime Minister UjjwalaYojana beneficiaries during COVID-19.  India has experienced a silent digital revolution in terms of explosion in real-time transaction.  In 2021, the number of real-time transactions 48.6 billion in India were almost three times that of China, and almost seven-times greater than the combined real-time payments in US, Canada, UK, France and Germany.
 
Supporting Entrepreneurship 
 
PM-SVANidhi is a unique scheme to help India’s grassroots entrepreneurial spirit. Under the scheme, loans were sanctioned to 31.9 lakh street vendors.  Rs. 30,000 crore were provided to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and women through Stand-up India scheme.  Under the Mudra scheme, approximately 35 crores loans have been sanctioned. 
 
The Indian start-up eco-system has livened up with improvements in ease of doing business and unleashing of the inherent Indian entrepreneurial talents.  This is manifest in the large number of Indian companies entering the coveted billion- dollar unicorn category.
 
Conclusion 
 
The next decade is India’s decade and its story will not be complete without Atma Nirbhrarta. To become an economic powerhouse, the PM’s commitment to uplift the poor of the country will play a key role. The Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc across the globe and slowed down the global economy. All advanced economies are struggling to get back on the growth trajectory. India, because of its stellar management of the pandemic and well-thought-out policy response, is well on its path to recovery. According to IMF projections, India will grow by 8.2 per cent in the coming fiscal year. 
This is the most promising growth outlook among all economies, including emerging economies.  Both the Government and the Bharatiya Janata Party will dedicate all their efforts and energy to reclaim Indian economy’s rightful place in the comity of nations.