Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) v Anantha Nageswaran on Friday rejected the idea of universal basic income, stressing that this type of social security is not suitable for countries like India.
CEA went on to say that this could set the stage for perverse incentives and discourage people from income-generating opportunities. It should be noted that the idea of a universal basic income was first put forward by former CEA Arvind Subramanian in the Economic Survey.
“India has not yet reached the stage where having universal social security is a moral or economic imperative,” CEA said at a CII event.
Stressing that support should only be targeted at those who are unable to participate in any type of economic activity, CEA said: “For a developed country that does not have too many income opportunities, the state may need to step in and provide.” the universal basic income. It may not be necessary for our country, where natural growth should fulfill many of the aspirations.
Nageswaran also said India’s economy is growing quite impressively post-pandemic in 2020-21 and expressed optimism about the economy over the next seven to 10 years. He added that given the dynamism of the economy, the final estimate of economic growth in FY23 will be higher than the government’s GDP growth rate of 7.2% for the fiscal year.
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