India will resist china’s economic imperialism

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, at a recent India-United States (US) business summit, invited global investors to invest in India. He told them that India offered a combination of “openness, opportunities and options”; pointed out that India had undertaken deep structural reforms, improved domestic manufacturing and was committed to diversified international trade; and spoke of merging domestic production and consumption with global supply chains.

PM Modi has never shied away from taking tough decisions. The privatisation of the Indian Railways, public sector disinvestments, reducing corporate tax and opening up coal mining to the private sector are measures which may have been unpopular in certain quarters, but are necessary for the long-term health of our economy, particularly in strengthening our manufacturing base.

To achieve the goal of a politically and economically strong India, the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is a 360-degree initiative to make India an economic superpower. The focus is on five pillars of development: Economy, infrastructure, technology, demography and demand. Our targets are the factors of production. These are land, labour, legislation and liquidity, improving their efficiency and reducing the cost to make our industries globally competitive. This is not restricted to the manufacturing, but targeted at direct benefit transfers to the needy. This has also resulted in demand creation in the economy and helping the vulnerable, particularly farmers, migrant workers and daily wagers.

The campaign for self-reliance has little to do with disengagement with China alone. We discerned the designs of Chinese economic imperialism early on. Our delinking from China began much early than many would like to believe. It began with PM opting out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The Chinese leadership tried hard to pressure India to join RCEP or face isolation in the grouping’s 16 countries. But the PM stood firm. In 2010, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government signed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with 10 Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) countries, the benefits of which were reaped by China as well. Reduced custom duties from these countries were creating an inverted duty structure in our domestic manufacturing sector, destroying local industries and converting manufacturers into traders.

Therefore, in the Union Budget in 2019, the government increased import duties on over 56 items spread across eight classifications. Items such as toys saw an increase of 60% from 20% earlier. All these efforts were to protect domestic industries from the onslaught of dumping and competition. Without first strengthening domestic manufacturing by providing a level-playing field, and reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of factors of production, we cannot open the floodgates for imports.

The Chinese leadership had almost managed to get the UPA government to accept RCEP. There are reports to suggest this. India’s signing of FTAs with Asean countries, without strengthening India’s domestic industries before opening them to regional and global competition, shows that the country’s interests were compromised. One important question must be asked. Why did India, which was a global leader in the pharma sector, gradually concede Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) production to China? The UPA must answer this.

As of now, with the coronavirus pandemic, the world has realised the risks of over-dependence on supply chains from one nation. We rose to the occasion by identifying this as a risk diversion strategy for global manufacturing companies. It provided India an opportunity to deal domestically with the challenges thrown up by the coronavirus. Further, the Chinese aggression at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at the Galwan Valley forced the government to immediately impose trade curbs and ban 59 apps from China. This is being hailed as a timely move, though certain economists and industrialists have sounded a note of caution on its long-term impact. But their logic seems based on the line propagated by the Chinese media and China’s government officials.

Fortunately, what we import from China is mostly in areas in which India has the domestic technology to leverage for import substitution. Most of these items do not come under the essential consumption requirements category and are generally non-merit goods. Except in pharma, which China dominates through the supply chain of APIs, it has not been able to penetrate strategic sectors.

India’s manufacturers need to seize this golden opportunity in sectors such as toys, electrical equipment, electronics, minerals, chemicals, iron and steel, plastics, furniture, sports goods, musical instruments, fertilisers and apps. Earlier, the ministry of commerce and industry had identified 12 such sectors; these now constitute 20 sectors. And 371 items have been identified for increasing import duties including non-tariff barriers on some of them.

If you look into the comparative advantage theory domestically, we have to focus on areas such as agriculture, particularly food processing, textiles, affordable housing, health care and education, and increase their contribution to India’s Gross Domestic Product. These sectors can generate large-scale employment and are looking up. This will be our path to recovery.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson on economic affairs

The views expressed are personal

Never waste a crisis

By Gopal Krishna Agarwal,

India is doing a commendable job in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. It took the epidemic seriously unlike some other countries when it emerged on the global horizon and has generally been ahead of the curve. Whether it’s screening of international passengers, quarantine or announcing lockdown, the central government has never been found wavering or hesitant.

The first priority obviously is to save people from this virus. The lockdown was announced when the cases were still very few. It reduced the speed of the spread of the virus and gave the government time to set up the required health infrastructure. Then the focus of the government shifted to mitigating the hardships of the people due to the lockdown. And now, rightly so, the focus is gradually shifting to the health of the economy.

It is an understatement to say that the economy has been severely affected by the lockdown. The global economic engine has come to a sudden stop because of the pandemic, as one country after another declared lockdown. The Indian economy, which was on a recovery path after a slower growth phase, has been brought down to its knees.

Covid-19 is a non-linear and uncertain event. Proper action at the right time alone will ensure that the cost of recovery is not huge. The likelihood of post-Covid-19 recovery being a V-, U-or L-shaped curve will depend on the road map ahead. The gov- ernment intervention will be commensurate with the severity of the global recession. India’s strengths are its demography, democracy and demand and while the first two will remain unaffected by the crisis, demand will diminish due to economic uncertainty, job losses and financial problems. Therefore, post Covid-19, the government will focus on reviving the demand.

The business of SMEs and other small enterprises are disrupted in a major way. In the absence of public social safety measures, compelling the private sector to bear its cost is not justified. There already is a twin risk aversion in the credit market for the SMEs. Credit guarantee schemes have to be made more robust and the government will have to actively consider sharing some part of the credit risk. Though, availability of credit is not the only – issue for the SMEs, going concern and business – continuity plans require a strong balance sheet which is missing among the SMEs.

The trend of de-globalization, which started after the global financial crisis and gained strength after the 2016 US elections, is expected to accelerate. The world will see the reshaping of international relations. Non-economic dimensions will become more important as countries try to become self-sufficient. However, countries will not return to autarky as no country can be fully self-sufficient in the present era. Though India will try to be self-reliant in critical products, that will not be achieved merely by increasing import duties – global competition is an important factor in boosting domestic productivity.

The shutdown in China due to the Covid-19 out- break was a rude shock for countries. It highlighted their vulnerability due to dependence on one country. A number of multinational corporations are working on a risk diversification strategy, but India will not automatically benefit from such a shift out of China: The success of Bangladesh and Vietnam over India is a sobering reminder. Old rulebooks that hamper private initiative will have to be scrapped by the government.

The government can formulate a new National Manufacturing Policy to make manufacturing in India competitive. The cost of doing business is very high compared to other countries. The cost of compliance, logistics, power, land and so on are very high. This is the right time to undertake factor market reforms, particularly land and labor. The crisis has also shown the importance of migrant workers in keeping the wheels of the economy moving. Going forward, we need a large infrastructure set-up for migrant workers so that the events of mass exodus do not reoccur.

The crisis has brought in sharp focus the aspect of state capacity. Our private sector has immense potential and in times of crises such as the present the government will need to have in place a mechanism to rope in the private sector to augment the state capacity. The use of big data and artificial intelligence (AI) for good governance, policies and welfare programmed can bring massive improvement in state capacity. India’s earlier digital story based on Aadhaar is very different from that in the US and China, and has set an example for the world. Using Al to identify critical areas for government intervention and scenario planning have the potential for huge application in better execution of schemes, predicting natural calamities, agricultural output and so on. India has the talent to do it.

The lockdown will be lifted in a staggered manner and after detailed planning and a standard operating procedure. With inflation remaining under control and lower oil prices benefiting India, the Centre may use special provisions under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act to go for a one-time off-balance sheet borrowing with a declared timeline. The borrowing limits on states under the FRBM Act may have to be relaxed for the time being.

Reviving demand, increasing liquidity and big- ticket reforms is the road map. India is fighting the current crisis with all its might and we will set the path for other nations to follow.

The author is national spokesperson of the BJP for economic affairs

Budget 2020 – Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Vikas

This is an Epoch-making Budget 2020. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has kept in mind all the segments of the economy. It enforces Prime Ministers Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving 5 trillion dollar economy by 2024, with Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.

The Government has not bogged down by the resource constraints and has continued with its spending on infrastructure and asset creation. It has taken care that the social welfare schemes of the government have sufficient funds allocation and can continue on its path of benefit to the last man (Antyodaya). Though the fiscal deficit targets have been relaxed the government gives a fiscal consolidation path and has also, for the first time, annexed a list of off-budget borrowing in the budget document and settled a very significant debate about transparency in government borrowing. All previous governments had been resorting to off-budget borrowing like oil bonds etc. but were not disclosing it. FM has estimated a nominal GDP growth rate of 10 per cent for the coming year, keeping inflation below 4 per cent our real GDP growth will be above 6 per cent.

The budget focuses on wealth creation and pro-business policy talking about minimal government intervention under the Economic development Theme of the Budget. For resource generation, it has desisted from increasing direct or indirect taxes. The government has reiterated its commitment to recognizing and honouring honest taxpayer and is taking care of unwarranted harassment by a tax authority by bringing accountability in the tax administration. Announcement of Taxpayer’s Rights Charter within the statute is an important step in this direction. Provision for statutory taxpayer’s right exists only in three other countries worldwide. 

Direct personal tax slabs have been changed to benefit middle-income segment and taxpayers up to income level of Rs 15 lakh will be benefited if they opt for a new regime of personal tax. FM has also promised that many tax concessions enjoyed currently by individual taxpayers will be incorporated in the new regime also depending upon nature, the option can be revised by the taxpayers on a yearly basis.  Deposit insurance for the scheduled banks has been increased to Rs 5 lakh from the current level of Rs 1 lakh only per depositor, about which there was very little awareness amongst the general public. This will help in building more confidence in the banking industries, bringing transparency. 

Cooperative sector gets the benefit of lowering of tax structure as in the case of reduced taxes for the corporate sector, helping farmers’ producer organisations, milk cooperatives and other charitable institutions operating under a cooperative structure. Even registration for charitable organisations under 80G and 12A has been made online provisionally so that they face less harassment and can start their activities early. 

The agriculture sector has been sufficiently provided for with the 16 new initiatives announced under Aspirational India theme for rural and agriculture sector. Financial market’s long-pending demand for the abolition of dividend distribution tax (DDT) has been accepted. Stressed assets under MSME has been given an extended one year time period for resolution and limit to go to resolution mechanism has been reduced to Rs 100 crore from earlier Rs 500 crore. The tax audit requirement has been increased to a turnover of Rs 5 crore. MSME also meets its demand for invoice financing under TReDS. Startup ecosystem gets several hand-holding supports like payment of taxes for ESOPs only at the point of sale. GIG economy, involving technological development, gets a big push from the government. Education sector seas several reforms for connecting academic to industries, providing them with industrial internship and skilling etc. setting of online educational facilities and new Police and Cybercrime University are an important development. Employment through National Recruitment Agency for non-gazetted posts will smoothen the employment process and make it completely transparent.  

Under the theme of Economic Development, the government provides for all the important sectors like Technological Textile Centres, power, renewable energy, connectivity like airports, seaports and railways. Finance minister works out a mechanism for the ambitious plan of investment of Rs 103 lakh crore under National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) identifying 6500 projects through Center, State and foreign direct investments (FDI). Government has also opened up its bond markets for foreign sovereign debt investment in rupee denomination, securing against exchange fluctuations, a concern shown earlier for sovereign debt funds.  The budget also provides for gap funding for new hospitals in the aspirational districts for servicing Ayushman health care scheme and provision for drinking water. Under the GST announcement, the government has provided for its commitment to compensate the states for increased 14 per cent revenue every year through compensation cess.

Government has also taken care of inverted duty structure that has seeped in the domestic industry under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). It also protects domestic industries from dumping securing domestic industries through clauses like country of origin value addition. Income accruing to NRI in zero-tax countries like UAE will be taxed on income generated in India only, a logical step to fill the gap in taxation. 

Discrimination of civil acts under Company Law and removal fear in the corporate sector has been hailed across every section. Faceless appeal provision and Vivad se Vishwas scheme will help to resolve long-pending tax disputes in tax administration and will also release funds for the government. Disinvestment road map will help reduce government dependence of tax revenue and improvement of the primary and secondary bond market will help reduce the dependence of corporate sector on bank finance alone.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal

He is National Spokesperson BJP and has a keen understanding of economic affairs.

Budget will need to trackle covid hurdles

The government is aware of the pain points. It will make required interventions in order to propel our economy to the next level

Global economies have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, and India is no exception. Post-pandemic economic recovery is a big challenge for all of us. Governments and central banks across the world resorted to fiscal and monetary measures to ward off the negative impact of the crisis. These measures included liquidity infusion, credit enhancement, deficit financing, direct benefit transfers, even the printing of currency and distribution of helicopter money.

These stimulus packages did help in the economic recovery, but disruptions in the global supply chain and the resultant strengthening of commodity prices, and liquidity overhang have led to inflation. Now, when the central banks have started sucking the liquidity out of the system to contain inflation and governments are reversing the stimulus in the interests of fiscal consolidation, a sustainable global economic recovery seems to be a distant goal.

The Indian government also came out with a stimulus package in the form of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India), which had several measures but stopped short of printing currency, and did not resort to the distribution of helicopter money. So, post pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is comfortably placed in its fight to contain inflation. It can reverse the excess liquidity from the economy in a phased manner while continuing to extend credit support to the needy segments. The government also has ample space for fiscal consolidation.

Our economy, at present, is in a resilient mode and we are witnessing a sharp post-pandemic recovery, thanks to the farsighted approach of the Narendra Modi government and RBI. This confidence in our economy is not only visible domestically, but also seen within the global investor community. Our macro-economic parameters are strong across segments. The government and RBI. This confidence in our economy is not only visible domestically, but also seen within the global investor community. Our macro-eco-nomic parameters are strong across segments. The government is continuing with its infrastructure spending and schemes such as Production Linked Incentives (PLI) are bringing the desired results in the domestic manufacturing sector.

It is against this background that the budget for 2022-23 will be presented. The first requirement to put economic growth on a sustainable path is to identify current challenges and to come up with a roadmap to address them.

The economic repercussion of the pandemic in India has not been equitable and it has been particularly harsh on the informal sector.

Consequently, there has been a deepening of income and wealth dis- parity in society. The last few years have seen very little growth in aggregate private consumption in the economy. Any support for the informal sector will help in increasing private consumption as well.

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are the growth engines of the economy, but were severely affected by Covid-19 related disruptions. They require working capital and other credit facilities. It is expected that the government will extend the credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs. There is also a fear that the looming liquidity crisis might transform into a solvency crisis; it would, therefore, be advisable that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) provide additional relief to small firms. There is a growing con- sensus that this segment requires new instruments for private capital formation.

It is expected that the government will focus on fiscal consolidation from the coming financial year . However, there is considerableuncertainty regarding its pace. A fiscal consolidation road map will help in the orderly working of the financial and capital markets. However, the glide path of fiscal consolidation should not be too steep.

Another important issue is the rapid rise in com commodity prices, affecting businesses because they are not able to pass on the increased costs to consumers due to weak demand. Reducing import duties on such products will tame costs and reduce inflation, particularly the wholesale price index (WPI). This will also help manufacturing industries, which were adversely impacted due to the rising costs of base metal and raw material.

Though Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections are increasing, over the years, the average tax rate under GST has come down to around 11.6%, much below revenue neutral GST rate of 15-15.5% as envisaged at the time of GST implementation. There is space to improve the average tax rate to bring it to around 15.5%. The government must improve the tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio.

Corporate tax rate has also been reduced to around 25% on average. However, for the tax-paying middle and upper middle class, the highest marginal rate of taxation is above 40% right now. If the government introduces infrastructure bonds, which provide for additional investment related deduction from taxable income, then not only will it bring down its total tax liability but also generate critical financial resources to invest in infrastructure.

Disinvestment has been one of the focus areas of the Narendra Modi government and the driving principle behind this is the government’s belief that public money locked in such assets should generate higher returns. However, a section of analysts and Opposition parties have tried to portray this as an exclusively revenue generating measure. The government needs to reaffirm the principles of better utilisation of public capital, underlying the disinvestment plan in the budget. Monetisation of assets of public sector undertaking has not been taken up as envisaged earlier and will require renewed efforts.

Our government is well aware of these pain points. The public is confident that it will make required interventions in this budget to propel our economy to the next level and this positive sentiment is quite visible in the business ecosystem. The government will continue on its path of eco- nomic reforms to build on this business confidence.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson on economic affairs

The views expressed are personal

After Bengal, BJP’s Special focus on kerala

 By Gopal Krishna Agarwal, 

Thiruvananthapuram: It’s official now. BJP is going to shift its focus heavily on Kerala. The party leadership is just waiting for the election in West Bengal to be over. To achieve the political target, the party would draw new strategies to confront the CPM head on.

The efforts would be to hold the CPM responsible for the economic crisis and development stagnation the state encounters, said Gopal Krishna Agarwal, BJP national spokesperson in charge of Kerala and a chartered accountant by profession.

“We have stopped the practice of contesting elections for the sake of it in Kerala. After West Bengal, BJP’s political focus is largely on Kerala. It’s only bound to increase in the future,” said Agarwal who is in the state in connection with the assembly election.

The party, he said, is confident of winning the hearts of Kerala voters and form the government in a matter of a few years.

“This is not a pipe dream. We just need to explain our development agenda to the people and convince them. If a state like UP can achieve tremendous strides in terms of economic development in a span of a few years, Kerala with its intellectual capital, spices, and tourism potential, can do wonders,” Agarwal said, adding that governments that always fight with the Centre won’t be able to make major developmental strides.

Agarwal, who had earlier been attached to the West Bengal election, said it was the prominent presence of Marxists that scares investors away from Kerala.

“The basic concept and attitude of Marxists towards wealth creation is flawed. They talk about distribution of wealth. For that the basic requisite is creation of wealth. But unfortunately, Marxists won’t address the aspect of wealth creation. Private capital is still an anathema for them. They can’t perform the role of a facilitator,” he said.

Good economics is good politics, he said and claimed that the economic policies of the BJP government under the leadership of Narendra Modi are focused on long-term development and growth. The new amendments brought in by the Centre on agri-culture laws, he claimed, would benefit lakhs of farmers while they would go against the interest of a few others.

 “Our reform initiatives focus on long-term agenda. It is this point we want to reiterate in Kerala. Once in power, BJP would shows the dogged and proven commitment towards the infrastructure and industrial development of Kerala. Establishment of waterways, food processing units, value addition of spices, rubber and agriculture produce would be our fo- cus. Once an investment-friendly ecosystem is established, economic growth and employment opportunities would follow. These are not claims. We have practised and proven it in the states we are in power,” Agarwal said.

Our reform initiatives focus on agenda. It is this pointer long-term in Kerala. Once in power, BJP would show the dogged and proven commitment towards the infrastructure and industrial development of Kerala. Once an investment-friendly ecosystem is established, economic growth and employment opportunities would follow. These are not claims. We have practised and proven it in the states we are in power

 Gopal Krishna Agarwal, BJP NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON INCHARGE OF KERALA

मेल खाते हैं टूलकिट निर्देश कांग्रेस नेताओं के वक्तव्यों से’

विपक्ष महाभारत के धृतराष्ट्र की बात याद रखे – ‘वयं पंचाधिकम् शतम्’ अर्थात् दुश्मन से लड़ने के लिए हम एक सौ पांच हैं, सौ और पांच नहीं

टूलकिट कांग्रेस प्रायोजित है या नहीं, इसका फैसला कानून करेगा

महामारी एंव आपदा प्रबंधन किसी भी सरकार लिए मुश्किल होता है। जब भी देश में ऐसा कोई संकट आया है सारा देश संकट से निजात पाने के लिए सामूहिक रूप से खड़ा हो गया। कोरोना की दूसरी लहर ने सभी को हिला कर रख दिया है। इसके गहरे जख्म लम्बे समय तक जहन में रहेंगे।

कोरोना से जंग लड़ रहे फ्रंटलाइन कार्यकर्ता रात-दिन एक कर रहे है। सभी को उम्मीद है कि विपक्ष सकारात्मक भूमिका निभाएगा, पर विपक्ष ने पूरी तरह निराश किया है।

राहुल गांधी जी तो केवल ट्विटर पर ही जिम्मेदारी की इतिश्री कर रहे हैं। जमीन पर कांग्रेस के कार्यकर्ता बहुत कम काम करते हुए दिखे। जो कुछ लोग कर रहे थे, उनकी मंशा पर भी प्रश्नचिह्न खड़ा हो गया है कि क्या वे एजेंडे के तहत ऐसा कर रहे थे, क्योंकि टूलकिट में सोची-समझी रणनीति के तहत अस्पताल के बेड जानबूझ कर खाली रखने की साजिश का जिक्र किया गया है। टूलकिट में कई अहम खुलासे हुए है। ल जिसने भी यह टूलकिट लिखा है, वह इरादतन बहुत ही घिनौना उद्देश्य लेकर कार्य कर रहा है। कोरोना वायरस के ज्यादा संक्रामक स्ट्रेन को वह भारत सेव जोड़ने की साजिश रच रहा है। यही नहीं, मोदी स्ट्रेन जैसे नेरेशन को बढ़ाने की बात स्पष्ट रूप से लिखी गई। भारत की त्रासदी को राजनीतिक लाभ के लिए इस्तेमाल करने का निर्देश देने का काम सुनियोजित ढंग से इसके जरिए किया जा रहा है।

 टूलकिट, कांग्रेस द्वारा प्रायोजित है या नहीं, इसका फैसला कानून करेगा। यह शीघ्र हो, इसकी जिसने भी यह टूलकिट लिखा है, वह इरादतन बहुत ही घिनौना उद्देश्य लेकर कार्य कर रहा है। कोरोना वायरस के ज्यादा संक्रामक स्ट्रेन को वह भारत से जोड़ने की साजिश रच रहा है। यही नहीं, मोदी स्ट्रेन जैसे नेरेशन को बढ़ाने की बात स्पष्ट रूप से लिखी गई। भारत की त्रासदी को राजनीतिक लाभ के लिए इस्तेमाल करने का निर्देश देने का काम सुनियोजित ढंग से इसके जरिए किया जा रहा है।

टूलकिट, कांग्रेस द्वारा प्रायोजित है या नहीं, इसका फैसला कानून करेगा। यह शीघ्र हो, इसकी आवश्यकता भी है। लेकिन प्रथमदृष्टया यह स्पष्ट है कि जिसने भी इसे लिखा है वह कांग्रेस की कार्यकर्ता है और उनके रिसर्च विभाग के प्रमुख के साथ काम करती है, और जैसे ही यह विषय चर्चा में आया उन्होंने अपना ट्विटर एवं लिंक्डइन खाता निरस्त कर दिया। दूसरा अहम विषय है कि अगर हम कांग्रेस नेताओं और कार्यकर्ताओं के सोशल मीडिया पोस्ट और वक्तव्यों को जमीनी स्तर पर देखें तो वे सभी इस टूलकिट में लिखे निर्देशों पर चलते स्पष्ट नजर आते हैं। राहुल गांधी के ट्विटर हैंडल को ही देख लें। कांग्रेस समर्थकों के ट्वीट्स देख लें, वे इस टूलकिट के निर्देशों से मेल खाते हैं।

जब भी किसी देश में कोई बड़ी आपदा आती है तो त्रासदी को पूरी तरह से नहीं रोका जा सकता। दूसरी लहर के घातक प्रभाव हम सभी झेल रहे है। तीसरी लहर, विशेषकर ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों पर इसके असर, की चिंता भी भारत को सता रही है। ब्लैक फंगस बीमारी भी घातक रूप ले रही है। वैश्विक स्तर पर भी इस महामारी में भारत की तरह ही कई सरकारें कई समस्याओं से जूझ रही हैं, जबकि वहां स्वास्थ्य सेवाओं का स्तर भारत से कहीं बेहतर था। जरूरी है कि हम इस लड़ाई को सामूहिक रूप से लड़ें। राजनीतिक लाभ- हानि, जन त्रासदी से बढ़कर नहीं है।

इस लड़ाई में हमारा सबसे बड़ा हथियार टीकाकरण का कार्यक्रम ही रहेगा। भारत का सौभाग्य है कि कोवैक्सीन यहां तैयार की गई। उसका उत्पादन जुलाई 2021 तक 35 करोड़ और दिसंबर अंत तक 216 करोड़ हो जाएगा। डीआरडीओ ने एक नई दवाई 2-डीजी के भी इस्तेमाल की अनुमति दे दी है जो बीमारी में हमारा महत्त्वपूर्ण औजार साबित होगी। बतौर डॉ. के.के. अग्रवाल ‘द शो मस्ट गो ऑन’ की भावना से हम इस विपत्ति से शीघ्र निजात पाएंगे।

मेरा विपक्ष से निवेदन है कि महाभारत में धृतराष्ट्र की बात को याद रखें – ‘वयं पंचाधिकम् शतम्।’ अर्थात् दुश्मन से लड़ने के लिए हम एक सौ पांच हैं, सौ और पांच नहीं।

गोपाल कृष्णा अग्रवाल

राष्ट्रीय प्रवक्ता भारतीय जनता पार्टी

Congress violated basic principles of tax, lost exemption : BJP’s Gopal Krishna Agarwal

The BJP on Friday reacted strongly to Congress allegations that the government is targeting it through tax notices and freezing of bank accounts.

“The I-T exemption that parties get is based on certain conditions. Congress has violated the basic condition mandated by EC for tax exemption,” BJP national spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal told ET.


Agarwal said that Congress got cash donations above Rs 2,000, which is against the rule.

“The Congress received Rs 14.5 lakh in cash over Rs 2,000. These violations and late returns cost them their exemption under Section 13(A) of the I-T Act,” he stated.

Once a political party loses tax exemption, all its income becomes taxable and all expenditure under income from other sources is disallowed.

Agarwal further said the IT department issued several notices to Congress, but they didn’t respond.

“The notice of demand for Rs 135 crore tax given to Congress for the assessment year 2018-19 is after the party lost the exemption,” he added.

The BJP leader said that Congress filed an appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal but didn’t pay the mandatory 20% of the total liability required to hear the matter.

“Congress has gone to appeal in ITAT as well as High Court but all their appeals have been rejected. The matter is in the Supreme Court now,” Agarwal said.

He said that the Income Tax department’s action is based on the incriminating material seized during search operations which indicated extensive usage of cash by the party.

Dark side of election time welfare Promises

The Narendra Modi government has been in office for about 10 years now. It has its share of hits and misses. If the Opposition was sincere and serious, it should have attacked the government for misses, though few and far between, and presented an alternative agenda to the public. Unfortunately, the Opposition has failed to come up with any positive alternative agenda. Instead, with elections on for five state assemblies, the opposition parties are making all sorts of promises in their manifestos.

Most of these poll promises (freebles) can’t be fulfilled. These parties, probably, have no intention to fulfil them there are no provisions in the state budgets or off budget borrowings to fulfil these promises State finances are mostly in the doldrums. The federal structure in India has no provision for bankruptcy of a state, otherwise states such as Punjab and Rajasthan, reeling under heavy debt, may face bankruptcy. They are a big drag on India’s fiscal consolidation roadmap. These election promises can be classified into four categories. One category would consist of such promises that the parties making them have no intention of fulfilment. Such promises could range from giving gold chains to women or the promise of blanket loan waivers to farmers.

The second would be those that need the diversion of precious public resources from productive developmental expenditure to wasteful expenditure. The Congress led government in Karnataka is diverting funds to the tune of 40,000 crore from developmental projects for poll promises. The deputy chief minister of that state is on record saying that the state will have no funds for development expenditure because the funds will go to fulfil poll promises. The extravagant promises by the Congress government in Rajasthan and the BRS government in Telangana, should these parties come back to form the government, will ensure that there would be no money left for capital expenditure.

The third category of promise entails the creation of future liabilities for the public but hiding them from the public through financial jugglery. Delhi is a classic case where under-recovery on the supply of electricity is leading to the creation of regulatory assets Electricity distribution in the city was privatized long back. These private companies are not able to recover costs including a fixed rate of return on capital employed.  This under recovered amount constitutes “regulatory assets in the balance sheets of these private distribution companies. The total figure for FY 2021-22 for the three private power distribution companies comes to 18.578 crore. If we conservatively assume the carrying cost for this amount to be 8% per annum, the annual interest payable to the distribution companies would come to around 1,486 crore. This interest burden will be payable by the electricity consumers of Delhi in the future. During 2004 14,  the United Progressive Alliance government issued oil bonds to the oil marketing companies to the tune of 1.25 lakh crore.  Similarly, there was off bud get borrowing to the tune of 2 lakh crore by the Food Corporation of India These amounts were paid by the Modi government.

The fourth category of promises is a reversal of the measures of economic reform.  Reversion to the Old Pension System (OPS) is non -Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states is a prime example of this. The New Pension Scheme
(NPS) was a major economic reform of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led National Democratic Alliance government and had moved the pension liability of the government from being unfunded to fully funded. The benefits of this far-sighted reform were to become evident a few decades down the line. However one state government after the other is jettisoning this together a few extra votes from government employees.

The BJP is working relentlessly to provide fiscally prudent and responsible social welfare schemes and expose the false promises of the Opposition. We believe in empowerment. not entitlement, and the difference is evident in sound current macroeconomic fundamentals like Gross Domestic Product growth, fiscal deficit, inflation and foreign exchange reserves. The point is fiscal resources should be utilised in a targeted way with provisioning in the budget, as government need to spend or diverse areas with fiscal prudence.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal is the national spokesperson of the BJP for economic affairs.

जी-20 के सफलतापूर्वक आयोजन से दिखी भारत की नेतृत्व क्षमता

यदि मजबूत इरादे को लेकर नेतृत्व को लेकर नेतृत्व किया जाए तो कुछ भी असंभव नहीं

हमारा यह दृढ़ विश्वास है कि जब भी और जहां भी उचित हो, श्रेय मिलना ही चाहिए। जी-20 का सफलतापूर्वक आयोजन व दिल्ली घोषणापत्र पर सर्वसम्मति का वैश्विक प्रभाव, भारत की वर्तमान एवं भविष्य की नेतृत्व के लिए भूमिकाओं के रूप में देख सकते है। चंद्रयान-3 की सफलता ने पहले ही भारत की प्रतिष्ठा में चार चांद लगाकर भारत को अंतरिक्ष प्रौद्योगिकी में अग्रणी देश के रूप में प्रस्तुत किया है। हाल में हुई दोनों ही घटनाएं, यह प्रदर्शित करती है कि यदि नेतृत्व में दूरदर्शिता, प्रतिबद्धता व इच्छा शक्ति हो तो बड़ी- बड़ी चीजों को भी हासिल किया जा सकता है।

बचपन में हम पढ़ते थे कि भारत एक अमीर देश है, जहां गरीब रहते हैं इससे हमें यह पता चलता है कि तत्कालीन नेतृत्व किस प्रकार भारतीयों की वास्तविक क्षमताओं को उभारने में नाकाम हुआ था। मोदी के सत्ता में आते ही यह परिदृश्य पूरी तरह से परिवर्तित हुआ है। हमें कई बार महसूस हुआ कि प्रधानमंत्री की कुछ पहल बहुत महत्वाकांक्षी एवं असंभव सी है। तत्पश्चात हमने देखा की यदि मजबूत इरादे को लेकर नेतृत्व किया जाए तो कुछ भी असंभव नहीं है। हम देखते है की हर समय विपक्ष का रवैया आलोचनात्मक व नई पहलों के लिए रुकावट करने वाला रहा हैं, ऐसे में सभी उद्देश्य पूर्ति कोई छोटी उपलब्धियां नहीं हैं। कोविड संकट से निपटना तय समय में सफलतापूर्वक घरेलू वैक्सीन तैयार करना और 230 करोड़ लोगो तक वैक्सीन पहुचाना एक सुचारू प्रशासनिक दक्षता का ही प्रमाण है। कोविड के बाद आर्थिक विकास, आर्थिक सुधार को सटीक समय पर लागू करना, राजकोषीय प्रोत्साहन व महंगाई का सफल प्रबंधन, सरकार की महत्त्वपूर्ण उपलब्धियाँ है। कोविड के बाद विश्व के अमेरिका, यूरोप और चीन जैसे राष्ट्र भी आर्थिक संकट से जूझ हैं जबकि भारत इससे अलग तीव्र गति से आर्थिक विकास पर अग्रसर है। भारत

द्वारा डिजिटल पब्लिक इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर (यूपीआई) का विकास, जिसका गुणगान आज दुनिया कर रही है, आधुनिक मानव इतिहास में अद्वितीय साबित हो रहा है।

वर्ल्ड बैंक की रिपोर्ट कहती है कि भारत के वित्तीय समावेशन कार्यक्रम ने 47 साल के काम को मात्र 6 साल में पूरा कर दिखाया है। दिल्ली घोषणापत्र में जी-20 देशों द्वारा यूपीआई को अपनाना इस बात की ओर संकेत करते हैं कि वसुधैव कुटुंबकम (विश्व एक परिवार है) और आनो भद्राः क्रतवो: यंतु विश्वतः (हर दिशा से नेक विचार हमारे पास आएं) की हमारी प्राचीन अवधारणा मात्र दार्शनिक कथन नहीं हैं बल्कि प्रधानमंत्री मोदी ने इन्हें अपनी इच्छाशक्ति और दूरदर्शिता से ज़मीन पर लागू करके दिखाया है। विकासशील देशों को वैक्सीन मैत्री कार्यक्रम के तहत मुफ्त टीके उपलब्ध करवाना हो या वैक्सीन पर आईपीआर प्रतिबंधों को दूर करना, प्रधानमंत्री जी का हर एक कदम सराहनीय रहा है। अब जी-20 के माध्यम से भारत अपने डिजिटल इन्फास्ट्रक्चर मॉडल को विश्व के लिए पब्लिक गुड के रूप में प्रस्तुत कर रहा है । इतिहास में यह पहली बार हो रहा है कि किसी वित्तीय कार्यक्रम को आईटी दिग्गजों के व्यक्तिगत लाभ व व्यवसाय के लिए नहीं बल्कि सबकी भलाई के लिए सार्वजानिक रूप से पेश किया जा रहा है। यह एक महत्वपूर्ण भारतीय उपलब्धी है जो कि वर्तमान में सम्पूर्ण विश्व के लिए प्रस्तुत किया गया है। मेरे लिए यह न सिर्फ प्रधानमंत्री का जन कल्याण कार्यक्रम है जो ‘एक राष्ट्र, एक परिवार, एक भविष्य’ का संदेश देता है बल्कि यह कार्यक्रम हमारा ध्यान इसलिए भी आकर्षित कर रहा है क्योंकि यह भारतीय नेतृत्व को वैश्विक पहचान देने का एक जरिया है। घरेलू कनेक्टिविटी वाला बुनियादी ढांचे के निर्माण में निवेश हो या अभी जी-20 समूह के अंतर्गत भारत- मध्य पूर्व यूरोप आर्थिक गलियारे की घोषणा यह भारत में निवेश की सम्भावनाओं को तो बढ़ा रहा है और हमारी व्यापर एवं रणनीतिक सुरक्षा की आवश्यकतों को भी मजबूत करेगा। यह आर्थिक गलियारा न सिर्फ प्रधानमंत्री की दूरदृष्टि और मेहनत का परिचायक है बल्कि स्वेज कैनल व बंदरगाहों के माध्यम से व्यापार मार्ग को सुरक्षित करने के लिए इजरायल और ग्रीस जैसे यूरोपिय देशों से वार्तालाप करने की उनकी सूझबूझ का भी परिचायक है।

भारत – मध्य पूर्व यूरोप गलियारा, चीन के बीआरआई का जवाब है। बीआरआई के तहत एक के बाद एक देश जैसे पाकिस्तान, श्रीलंका व केन्या कर्ज के बोझ तले दबे जा रहे हैं । अब भारत दक्षिण एशियाई देशों की मजबूत आवाज भी बन रहा है और अफ्रीकी देशों के विकास और एकीकरण के स्वर को बुलंद कर रहा है।

गोपाल कृष्ण अग्रवाल,

राष्ट्रीय प्रवक्ता भाजपा

A peaceful India free of disturbances is taking the global centre stage

By Gopal Krishna Agarwal,

This August, we are celebrating the 76th year of our Independence. India now is a much stronger nation, internally as well as externally. This has been possible due to the determination and vision shown by our current leadership.

Apart from its historical import, the month of August has acquired additional significance due to some major milestones accomplished in the recent past, during this month.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has always stood for strong nationalism and keeping national interest above all other considerations. The focus on India First, whether it is in global diplomacy, external and internal security, or economic management, is undiluted. One of the key successes of the government has been the establishment of domestic peace, stability and the elimination of the scourge of terrorism. Home minister Amit Shah has strongly dealt with issues at home – at the core of the BJP’s agenda which bogged down India’s internal security and caused continuous uncertainties and communal tensions in the country.

For decades since Independence, Parliament has been reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India, but the region continued to be disturbed on the ground, fostering and breeding terrorism.

Pakistan was bent on bleeding India through a thousand cuts. The young were disenchanted and resorted to pelting stones. The Indian leadership knew that removing Article 370 was the right step to ensure national security, but lacked the courage and conviction. The narrative was that once Article 370 is removed, there will be bloodshed in the region, and even attempting to dilute it would invite international backlash.

The way the nullification of Article 370 was handled with surgical precision was unprecedented. On August 5, 2019, the smoothness of the handling of the whole situation involved dealing with cross-border skirmishes and international perspectives through determined operations on the ground. Though no cost is high enough to be paid to maintain the territorial integrity of our motherland, it was deeply satisfying to note that the objective was achieved with little loss of life or damage to public property. Today, there is peace and tranquillity in Jammu and Kashmir and it is on the path of economic development. The PM’s vision and home minister’s acumen accomplished the task.

The Ram temple in Ayodhya was another contentious issue. History tells us that the communal tension in India had its genesis in the demand by Hindus of a grand Ram at Ayodhya. The temple was related to the Asmita and Swabhiman (self respect) of Hindus. This issue led to several riots and the loss of lives. We all dreamt of a grand temple at Ayodhya, with little hope of it being fulfilled. But the adroitness in maintaining law and order before and after the 2019 Ram Janam bhoomi verdict by the Supreme Court underlined the visionary commitment to a cause. Despite the sensitivity of the issue, there were no riots or tension anywhere in the country.

Bhumi pujan (groundbreaking ceremony) for the Ram Mandir” was held on August 5, 2020, and now the grand temple is turning into a reality. There are many such instances, but I will not go beyond the issue of triple talaq. The practice of triple talaq is the bane of Muslim women as they were the primary victims of the politics of appeasement. The vote bank of previous governments went to such of previous governments went to such an extent that gender equality, women  empowerment, and equality before the law as enshrined under our Constitution, were blatantly ignored and the apex court’s decisions g were reversed through a brute majority in Parliament, as seen in the Shah Bano case in 1985. With triple talaq made illegal in August 2019, India’s Muslim women have been empowered. India is truly coming of age as a strong nation. India is now peaceful, free of disturbances, with many of the contentious issues settled, and whose point of view on global issues is being considered with respect. Our image as a strong and no-nonsense nation is now well established. PM Modi, with the able assistance of Shah, is taking India to newer heights.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal is national spokesperson of the BJP