Union finance minister Arun Jaitley is not far from the truth when he says, in reference to opposition to the ordinances on insurance, land acquisition, etc., that there are people who have a vested interest in keeping India poor. Mr Jaitley has also countered banker Deepak Parekh’s view that the government’s promises are not reflected on the ground.
Mr Jaitley said the government is in fact accused of moving too fast by passing ordinances. Both gentlemen have a point. Whilst Mr Parekh was definitely speaking about issues concerning the upper one per cent, the government has indeed tried to bring in social reforms for the marginalised. These attempts at reforms are imperative and also have a multiplier business impact, like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The one per cent, for instance, are opposed to schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which empowers the rural poor.
But, having said this, Mr Jaitley needs to look into a few things that his government has done which are definitely anti-poor. Allocations to NREGA have been trimmed. Also, there is need to look at land reforms, which are definitely anti-farmer and would benefit the one per cent who will become the new zamindars. It is being said that this is a land grab in the guise of development because they take many times the land required. For instance, a private refinery in India takes 10 times the land that a similar refinery takes in Japan.
