Are Yashwant Sinha's questions to Chidambaram childish?
Are Yashwant Sinha's questions to Chidambaram childish?
During the time of General Elections, it is common tendency of the political parties to blame each other for the things that went wrong in country. It is the same scenario again in year 2014. Yashwant Sinha had asked P Chidambaram 18 questions regarding the status of the economy in UPA government. In return the Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that the questions asked to him are puerile. Do you have the same view as the Finance Minister P Chidambaram? Are Yashwant Sinha’s questions to Chidambaram puerile?
Yes
• Subsidies might be a burden in fiscal deficit but they are necessary as an important step in reform system to help the poorer section of society.
• As per the Finance Minister they are going to end the year at 4.6% fiscal deficit. The reserves stand at more than $300 Billion. The figures are encouraging.
• One should not forget that the last 5 years have not been easy for all the markets. The global economic turmoil has affected every economy drastically.
• The annual average GDP growth number stands at 7.44% during the five year period which came after the financial crisis of 2008-09.
• Coming to inflation, subsidies is linked to index inflation, but again subsidies protect the common man.
• Also, as per the records of capita national income, there was a rise in the average income by nearly 75 per cent in real, inflation-adjusted rupees.
No
• You cannot go on extending the limit for subsidies just because the poorer section needs it. It is about the entire economy.
• Subsidies were part of the electoral considerations that allowed the fiscal deficit to cross all set limits of sustainability in 2008-09.
• The fiscal deficit figure of 4.7% does not include the 35000 crore fuel subsidies rollover which in any case cannot be ignored.
• There have been misguided policies rather say crony capitalist policies in key sectors such as telecom mining and land allocation. You cannot just let go the 2G spectrum allocation scam so easily.
• Inflation never slowed down during this period forcing RBI to increase rates. It had a negative impact on investment.
Conclusion
It is true that the last some years were not easy for the world’s major economies but that does not means that no efficient measures can be taken to improve the economy. Yashwant Sinha questions cannot be termed as completely puerile and the simple reason is figures show it.
Discussion
- RE: Are Yashwant Sinha's questions to Chidambaram childish? -Deepa Kaushik (04/11/14)
- Yashwant Sinha being a member of the opposition has put in a hook to pull the leg of the ruling party. No doubt, he has done his job to his best. The questions were not just framed just for the reason to query anything, but those were supported by figures and data.
Mr.Sinha has questioned the economic status of the country during the UPA term which has surged down. Though we cannot blame Mr.Sinha for the questions, but at the same time, we can’t criticise Childambaram for all the downfall. We have seen a generalised downward surge for all the markets over the past 5 years period, which followed the same course for our economy as well.
This factor alone cannot be any escapism for Mr.Chidambaram, as being posted as the Finance Minister, he is answerable to all these questions. Calling the questions as puerile doesn’t clear the picture, nor does it answer any of the questions put forward by Yashwant Sinha. Also, a generalised surge in the economy, never denotes that our economy needs to follow the same trend. A good economist is the one who could avoid the turmoil from affecting us. Subsidies are the ones that protect common man, but they do have their direct effect on the inflation. Subsidies too was like a part of the game keeping the elections into their consideration.
To be precise, it is not fair enough to call Yashwant Sinha’s questions completely childish, they should have been replied with the facts and figure, which would be apt to acknowledge.
