India needs jobs, not dole

India cannot afford to allow its policy to be constrained by failed dogmas about government deficits and debt, writes Srinivas Thiruvadanthai

Universal basic income (UBI) has increasingly gained popularity in policy circles globally and it has now entered the political debate in India, with the Congress Party promising to implement some form of UBI. Coming at a time when India has made huge strides in drastically reducing extreme poverty, the championing of UBI, in a way, signals that the state is throwing in the towel on jobs. It is an implicit acknowledgement by policy-makers that the state cannot foster an economy that creates enough jobs to provide a livelihood for the vast majority of the people. Yet, the travesty is that