 "Freebies. Freebie")
As someone who has travelled footloose across the length and breadth of the country, looking at social development and governance, I am a firm believer that good politics and good economics can work together. The pro-poor public welfare thrust seen in terms of better school infrastructure under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), improved rural primary health care services through the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), unskilled wage labour under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), cheap/free food-grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), removal of asset deficits of the deprived by provision of housing (PMAY), toilets (Swachh Bharat Mission), electricity connection (Saubhagya), bank account (Jandhan), cashless secondary/tertiary health care (PMJAY), membership of women’s collectives (DAY-NRLM) and access to credit, have all made a difference to the economics and politics of development.
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India 2005-06 onwards successfully brought out 415 million persons out of multi- dimensional poverty (MDP) on account of all the above measures. This is also a period which witnessed lower anti incumbency in many states, indicating reflection of poverty reduction in the voting behavior of the people. Perception of graft or drift in policies led to loss of electoral supremacy. The ascendancy of technology led to governance changes like geo-tagging of assets, IT/DBT, real-time monitoring, correct identification of the deprived through the Socio-Economic Census (SECC), and became a panacea for the deprived. It created a constituency of the beneficiaries of such programmes, whose electoral benefits accrued both to state and central governments, depending on who got the credit for it. Deepening of democracy has made human well-being and multi-dimensional poverty reduction matter; good politics indeed often appears to be good economics.
As we navigate the post-covid economic reconstruction after successes in pro-poor public welfare on scale, it is important to pursue evidence-based policies that redress the key critical gaps in this journey: From extreme chronic poverty to improved human wellbeing. We need to acknowledge the K-shaped economic recovery the world over, where the pains of Covid-19 affected the deprived more than others. We also need to recognise the setback to human capital seen in terms of learning poverty among children, stagnant or slow-moving demand for goods and services by the bottom quintiles, and stresses on incomes and employment of the wage earning-earning class.
There are five community asks that stand out, after the successes in pro-poor public welfare delivery, especially over the last nine years. They are: (i) Incomes, (ii) employment, (iii) better learning outcomes in schools, (iv) quality health services and improvement in nutrition, and (v) stability and a socially conducive environment for sustainable business and economic activity free from disruptions. These are the key demands of the deprived. The deprived do not want freebies; they want a permanent solution to their income challenge to enable all households to buy their LPG cylinders as per need. In Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, barely one in four households is able to cook all meals on gas. The findings on wage incomes of households from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) indicate an end to chronic poverty for many but it is still miles to go for a sustainable improvement in incomes. The PRICE Survey and the claim of 30 per cent of households already in the middle-class bracket of Rs 5-30 lakh income per annum appears to be on the higher side, compared to all the other evidence from the field. Assessing incomes is not easy and that too without a recent consumption survey.
The deprived want to learn fishing and do not want free fish for all times; higher order skill sets for higher order productivity and incomes; savings on private tuition and private school costs by well-functioning government-funded schools and skills initiatives is a major demand. There is a demand for good finishing schools that lead to employability and enterprise. Quality health care services with low or no out-of-pocket expenses is the most important demand of the people. Even the middle class is feeling the pinch of the cost of education and health services and wants the ‘missing middle’ to be a part of the pro-poor public welfare. While the New Education Policy is an opportunity for new initiatives, the transformation at the school and child level must happen much faster. There is no substitute to bottom up approach in transformation, with funds, functions and functionaries.
Along with governance improvements, additional decentralised financing will also be needed. Decentralised human development thrust with a horizontal community and local government led thrust on education, health, skills, livelihood and nutrition, with the oversight of women’s collectives, will go a long way in answering the disquiet among the deprived. Technology offers quick gains through blended learning opportunities and teacher development. In the health sector too, while Covid-19 vaccination was a major success, it is time to make guaranteed quality health services a reality for all citizens. Nutrition, skills and livelihoods similarly need the utmost priority in government spending at all levels with a directive for funds, functions and functionaries with local institutions. Invest in capacity creation of local institutions on priority.
To raise incomes of households, a concerted effort is needed. It is important to raise the wage rates for unskilled work under the MGNREGS to bring it closer to market wages. The current wage rates are good for coming out of chronic poverty but not in times of dislocation and distress. The deprived need higher MGNREGS wages to enable market wage rates rise further to meet the bare necessities of the deprived, including cost of gas refill, effectively. Wage rates of women working in MGNREGS is the same as men. Any upward increase is a signal to the labour market. There is adequate evidence of wage rates for women rising due to MGNREGS. Similarly, the notified minimum wages for manufacturing and services sectors needs to be enforced if consensus is elusive; market principles should never determine wages of the bottom quintile where there is the challenge of excess demand for work. Let equity not be sacrificed in the name of enterprise. Sustainable enterprises must be built on respectable wages.
The deprived resent dislocation of economic activity even for a few hours. Natural disasters or lack of harmony in the form of riots and crimes, public health closures, depletes reserves of the deprived the most. It leads to indebtedness and penury. Social protection and insurance must step in through universal instruments that safeguard the destitution of the deprived in such periods. Peace and harmony are needed at all costs and rule of law must be enforced for all rigorously. Any deviation creates disaffection that becomes disruptive.
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The deprived do not want freebies; they are looking for solutions that provide dignity to them. Pro-poor public welfare has ushered in hope among the disadvantaged, 2005-06 onwards. Let us not let down the deprived. Good politics is good economics if evidence-based feedback becomes the basis for public policy. Community-led action for incomes, employment, better learning outcomes in schools, quality health services and improved nutrition, and stability and a socially conducive environment for sustainable business and economic activity is the way to go.
The writer is a retired civil servant.
These are the personal opinions of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the views of www.business-standard.com or the 'Business Standard' newspaper
