Universal Basic Income fails to find place in budget

Kochi: The much hyped Universal Basic Income (UBI) touted as the mother of all welfare schemes to be introduced in the country fails to find any mention in the budget speech of Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on Wednesday. The buzz about the UBI gained traction in the past few days mainly as a panacea to bring down the hardships caused by the demonetisation. “The idea of universal basic income sounds good in theory. But in a country like India I am afraid it is too early to be implemented”, said Rudra Sensarma, professor of economics Indian Institute Management, Kozhikode told DC. The structural bottlenecks are major hindrance for the roll-out for something like UBI, he said.  

“How can cash transfer ensure educational services in a village lacking schools or health care services without a hospital”, he pointed out. Cash transfer in the case of food subsidy is a feasible proposition as the person can buy the provisions from a grocery store instead of PDS shop, he said. The same model cannot be applied in case of education, health care and many other services, he added.

Prof Sarma complimented the FM for not succumbing to the temptations to many unpopular tax measures.   “There were widespread concerns that the budget, in order to shore up revenues, would raise service tax, securities transaction tax and long term capital gains tax”, he said. The FM has also allayed apprehensions of fiscal profligacy in the aftermath of demonetisation by refusing to deviate from the path of fiscal consolidation.