Where are the jobs?
The writer is making a political statement (“No dividend here: The slowdown in jobs shows that India is headed for demographic disaster”). The economy of a nation is reflected in the working of the banking industry. This downward trend started in the beginning of 2013, when all or most of the public sector banks were functioning more or less like charities for industrialists. Only later was it revealed how much they had accumulated as NPAs. Both the UPA and big corporations are responsible for the slowdown in the economy.
In a free market economy, the impact of government action reflects after almost two quarters. All the banks are now flush with funds and there is hardly any liquidity problem. There is no credit off take for the simple reason that companies are waiting for PSUs to start functioning like charities again. – Ramachandran Sankaran
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For how long will we keep talking about the negative aspects of note ban and the GST? These are the realities now. One should praise the government for taking courageous steps to clean up the financial system to ensure more tax compliance. It is not easy to clean a system that has collected rot over 70 years. The shocks that these changes are bringing about are temporary and everyone agrees that they need to bear them for some time. The time has come to highlight the positives of the story. Individuals and traders are making up their minds to comply. This will help boost government revenue, which in turn will facilitate job creation. Instead of creating panic, why not give valuable suggestions? – Sriram
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This is a thoroughly non-objective write-up. Demonetisation and GST are temporary disruptions. The macro-economic indicators are robust. Have faith. Under Modi, Indians will surmount this challenge and emerge successful. If the World Bank and the International Monetary Front are optimistic about India, why is Scroll.in so pessimistic? – Chaitanya Aggarwal
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The fruit juice making industries in Tamil Nadu have lost almost all their business as they were earlier supplying to distributors at very competitive rates but after GST was implemented, taxes have gone up from 5% to 12%. I am sure consumption of fruit juice in India is higher than that of Khakra, the GST prices for which were recently slashed. This shows that the BJP government is just bothered about its vote bank, particular in poll-bound Gujarat.
Other than the likes of Jay Shah, Ambani and Adani, no other company can afford to hire post demonetisation and GST. – Mohammed Rafi
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I hope the note ban does not lead to vote ban for them. – Gopal Iyer
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Fears over GST are premature. The impact will be felt for a short time only. Wait and watch – in the next few months, the market will be flooded with jobs. – Pravin R Nerkar
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This government is is only meant for business tycoons. They are selling our country by destroying small-medium enterprises. – Utsab Ray Misra
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Demonetisation was definitely a disaster, but we still have hopes from GST. The Modi government should accept its faults and should come up with a solution that takes India in right direction. – Raghu AS
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The BJP has taken all steps to create jobs, but the size of the task is huge. The PMO and CMO offices alone will not be able to deliver. Sharper focus and time bound targets are needed and I’m sure the BJP leadership can deliver. But it is easier said than done. There are enough honest and experienced people who will take us closer to our goals. – Mukul Vaidya
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Why can’t we take into account the events of the last 60 years? We can’t change everything in a few days. – Parameshwaran Namboothiri
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If people elect the Congress in 2019 and Rahul Gandhi becomes prime minister, will things change? Will he scrap GST and bring back the old currency? Will he scrap Aadhaar? Will he be able to generate enough jobs? There are a lot of opportunities in the agrarian sector, but people only want white or blue-collar jobs. The Mudra Bank gives loans without mortgaging any asset. People should come forward and use such facilities and generate jobs for themselves. The government faces limitations in generating jobs. – Parameswaran TK
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The purpose of this write-up is not clear. Is it to expose the BJP’s failure or the economy’s failure? Isn’t it better to suggest what the next government should do after 2019 to increase job creation and reduce inflation? If you believe that everything has gone wrong under the BJP, why don’t you guide Opposition forces on how they can plan for the upcoming elections and what they should include in their manifestos to boost growth? Our experience shows us that economists cannot repair the economy because they will not be able to arrive at a consensus. – Asok Kumar Ghosh
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Those propounding such theories have not done their homework. All they want is to create panic among the masses. Has the author taken into account the number of jobs created by Mudra Bank? Some of the so-called intellectuals are still reeling from the Congress mindset. But people at large have complete faith in Modi’s leadership and in the government. – Dhruv Singh
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Our governments, policy makers and planners have failed miserably in creating job opportunities for the ever-growing number of unemployed youth in our country. It’s a sad state of affairs. – Victor Paul
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The loss of jobs and revenue share in the telecom sector is not because of demonetisation or GST but because of government inaction when the industry is bullied by one company. Nobody in the government thought about the millions of people working in this sector. They maintained a calculated silence in the name of customer interest. There is absolutely no need to give entertainment or utilities free to the public. It should be affordable but not free. Nothing comes free in this world – there is a cost attached to it. If the user doesn’t pay, who will? As an ordinary citizen who has been part of the telecom industry for the last 22 years, I am not able to digest what the government is doing. – Jacob Mathew
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This is a great article. I foresee a repeat of the French Revolution. This time, it is the political class that will be upturned. – Prabhakar A Singh
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What is the government doing? And what are its advisors doing? Industry has been subdued for more than three years now but we are least bothered.
I work for a hotel and I’ve seen sales plummet as a result of the general slowdown across all sectors. Our governments have always been slack when it comes to the economy. Why would they be interested anyway? They do not truly love this country and its people. They continue to make millions through bribes and extortion. – Sunil Vaidya
Losing ground
The ground is slowly slipping away from under Modi’s feet (“Why it feels like the ground is shifting: Modi’s grip on the narrative has slipped”). There are too many things hurting his credibility. The middle class seems to be rebelling against the intolerance and diktats of the BJP. Modi might still win the 2019 elections, but certainly won’t get the huge mandate he did in 2014. Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, is gradually gaining popularity. – Vikram Khanna
Looking glass
This is an interesting article (“The Readers’ Editor writes: Letters column shows Scroll is not shy of publishing criticism of itself”). But I disagree with C Rammanohar Reddy’s observations about the letter he cites at the end, which he calls offensive. I beg to disagree. Gauri Lankesh’s murder must be condemned as there is no room for violence. At the same time, pointing out that Lankesh’s work was considered offensive by some is also important. – R Venkat
Most fowl
This youngster needs to be humiliated publicly so that people can understand how much trauma women are made to undergo (“Kolkata: Man arrested for Facebook comment threatening to rape woman and her brother”). Daily, women are tortured mentally and physically. People say we should not take the law in our own hands, but the judicial system often fails us. Take the case of the juvenile in the Nirbhaya case – this is what “justice” entails.
This man must be severely punished, to set an example for anyone who dares to think like this. Such people pose a real danger to society. If he can write such gory things on social media, he may certainly be capable of executing his threat also. – Sritrishna Dutta
Going hungry
This is alarming as well as shameful (“India worse than Bangladesh, Nepal in tackling hunger, situation serious, says report”). Our leaders close their eyes and pretend as though the country is galloping ahead when the reality is very different. If they stop spending so much money on advertisements to boost their image and get votes, maybe they can make some significant headway in reducing poverty. All public spaces, walls, hoardings, trains, buses etc are occupied with advertisements of the prime minister, chief minister or local leaders even as the country is reeling under poverty and hunger. We the people have, meanwhile, becoming thick-skinned. What is so great in becoming the worlds fastest growing economy if India is shining for a few people only? – Vipparti
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Before bringing in high-end technology and infrastructure, we should first work to eradicate hunger and starvation in our country. This should be the government’s top priority. The fact that we are not able to feed a large part of our population shows that there is something seriously wrong with our system. I hope somebody is listening. – Lawrence Vadukut
Weighty matter
The author has mentioned the most important causes of the obesity epidemic in India (“What India’s obesity problem has to do with its malnourished pregnant women”). The country indeed is one of the best examples of the Barker hypothesis, that “intrauterine growth retardation, low birth weight, and premature birth have a causal relationship to the origins of hypertension, coronary heart disease, and non-insulin-dependent diabetes, in middle age.”
However, I would like to make an additional point about the presence of Advanced Glycation End products in foods that are cooked using dry heat. Obesity and other metabolic diseases are considered low-grade systemic inflammatory diseases. Advanced Glycation End products, which are present in high amounts in fried foods, have been postulated to be the important triggers for low-grade inflammation. – Chandan Chakraborty
Lips sealed
Yet again, a mockery has been made of Indian democracy and freedom of speech (“‘I still don’t understand my crime’: UP teenager jailed for Facebook posts in April seeks answers”). Chief Minister Adityanath seems bent upon implementing the RSS agenda. This could be dangerous. He has little experience or administrative skill too. – Ramehwar