Budget Wishlist 2024

Here's my budget  wish list for 2024:

1. Universal Basic Income(Support): The total work force of the United States is less than 17 crores using which they are able to generate a real GDP in excess of 20 trillion dollars(2022 wiki). The total workforce of Europe is under 20 crores(2022 wiki). Except for China which has a work force of 78 crores(2022 wiki), no other country has bigger workforce than India which has 55 crores. As per recent KLEMS database of RBI, the workforce number is 64.3 crores but many economists have questioned this number. With the onus on productivity we are moving towards a world in which investments are technology-intensive, definitely not labor intensive. Some economists have envisioned a world where machines take over the bulk of the work load with minimal human intervention. In India, the annual requirement for jobs is around 2 crores whereas job creation per annum is limited to 40 to 50 lakhs in spite of the best efforts of the incumbent government. The idea is not to pin the fault on any one government, but probably we need to answer this question(at the expense of sounding leftist!): 'are we moving towards a world in which universal basic income or income support is a compulsion?' 

2. 1% Wealth Tax: The extension of the above mentioned argument is that we need to find a source of income to fund these universal basic incomes. The extent of inequality has only increased in the past few years and some economists have suggested as wealth tax on the top 1000 rich families of the country. This tax has to be set up in such a way that there is no chance to find loopholes. 

3. State level inflation indices, food and fuel inflation: Both the state and central governments need to take a more pro active role in controlling food and fuel inflation. We cannot hold the central bank responsible for things which are not within its control. Most of the time the focus is on consumer price indices that are published at a national level but there is limited discussion of inflation at the state level. Increased dissemination of state level indices can help in better price control. For example, the price of tomatoes or onions in different districts of the same state can vary significantly. 

4. Insurance sector: Insurance penetration is abysmally low in this country. Non-Life Insurance for all commercial establishments, residential co-operatives must be made compulsory and tax deductible. Both life and non-life insurance must be made compulsory for all tax paying entities. This can also help in accumulation of much needed growth capital. Perhaps, we can bring out a special employment drive for 'woman insurance agents' to address female labor force participation.

5. Chit fund companies to be moved under RBI: Every now and then you have concerns around chit fund companies going belly-up in different states. One needs to wonder whether state finance ministries have enough competence to govern chit fund companies of big size. It is better to bring them under the purview of RBI.

6. 100% Tax Concession for Green Energy Investments: Green energy investments are the need of the hour. Countries which are economically dependent on agriculture are more susceptible to climate change related incidents. So, 100% tax concessions should be provided to expedite green energy investments. Also, one-time green energy installation expenses can be made tax free for both individuals and business establishments.

7. Rural Infrastructure expenditure: The importance of rural roads and connectivity, ware houses, internet has come under scrutiny with the increase of climate change related incidents. So we don't have an option but to make provisions for rural infrastructure.

8. 25% of political party expenditures towards party workers welfare: There is no estimate of the number of workers who died due to the heat wave in the recently held elections. Many of our 'netas' went for holidays to cold destinations after elections but there are no paid vacations for party workers. So a mandatory part of the political party expenditures should be diverted towards worker welfare. 

9. Greater autonomy for local authorities for tax/cess collections: For decades economists have been suggesting greater autonomy for municipal and panchayat authorities for better governance and outcomes.

10. Increase in allocation for ministry of statistics: You cannot improve something that you can't measure. The need for reliable data and statistics to measure policy effectiveness and improvement does not need to be overstated.

11. Citizen's Monetary Policy Committee: The government needs to consider setting up a citizen's monetary policy committee to understand the inflation woes of common people.

12. Convert Vodafone Debt to Equity: The total debt of Vodafone is more than 2 lakh crores and the market cap of Vodafone Idea is only around 1 lakh crores. There is no way for Vodafone Idea to repay its debt in a reasonable time frame. In effect, Vodafone Idea is using the valuable spectrum for free while others have to pay for it. It is better to convert the debt into equity and make it a government owned company. They can sell stake again sometime in the future when the debt is at a sustainable level. The ownership and existing management can be kept separate. 

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