Monday, November 23, 2015

The inefficiency that is India: a tyranny of the non caring affluent and the educated.

India's fiscal deficit has to go up
That is,if the huge lumpen increases in central government employee emoluments recommended by  the recent  7th pay  commission report will be accepted or even enhanced. It will have to be as Indian  trade unions are typically good at restrictive practices and bargaining by resisting the recent 7th pay  commission report although it  recommends huge increments of nearly 20 % to central employees.  The civil servants - managerial and lower rung wage earners- will unite and  will utilize the need for aggregate demand to stimulate the economy as an argument. 

If centre gives,  can states  be far behind?. If centre gives, can banks be far behind?. These sectors are already reeling under stress of overdrawal and non performing assets. 

The Pay commission should have been performance oriented pay. Instead, it looks like there is an increment to the white collared who have  contributed to the  country being ranked 130 among 189 countries in rank of ease of doing business.  !

Comparable countries are :
Mexico            38 
Russia              51
China               84
Bangla Desh    117
(source. World Bank) 

While there is  so much inefficiency and slack to to get rid off, if India wants to progress,  India's bureaucracy, bankers and trade unions self obsessed educated elite are bogged  down with  who writes fat cheques and retirement benefits for themselves.

This self cheque writing is as 400 million of Indians- one-third of the world’s poor–still live in poverty. This is even as  average requirements of calories, proteins and fats based on norms of the Indian Council of Medical Research    energy requirement works out to 2,155 kilocalorie person  per day in rural areas and 2,090 kcal per person per day in urban areas.  The average monthly per capita consumption expenditure on food in these is Rs 554 in rural areas and Rs.  656 in urban areas.Who cares for the hungry marginal farmer  ! For the poor ?  (say $ 8.5 and $ 10 approximately)
217 million of the world’s malnourished children are in India.

This is when India’s un-organised or informal sector workers other than farmers  constitute over 70% of the workforce. Nearly 70 % of informal sector workers do not have a written employment contract, or receive any social security benefits. Who cares for the poor migrant labourer? Indians are fatalists!

The trade unions will protest, the Government will relent; fiscal deficit will expand and the taxpayer will fund inefficiency!

($ 1= approximately Rs.66.4)

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