Directly Auspicious

Direct delivery of benefits to the “right” people camouflaged with a political deadline was the core message of Union Budget 2019-20 RICHARD MAHAPATRA NEW DELHI

- Richard Mahapatra

WHEN FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman walked out of her North Block office in Delhi’s Raisina Hills, the iconic budget briefcase was missing. Instead, she chose a red folder that had the national emblem on it. Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian was quoted saying, “Sitharaman believes leather products are not auspicious, so she wrapped the budget in a red cloth, which is considered to be auspicious. She also believes cutting is not auspicious.” So she unfolded the ribbon.

Despite such metaphysics, the “auspicious” Union Budget 2019-20 only reiterated the development design of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi: direct delivery of benefits to beneficiaries camouflaged with a political deadline. Modi—both in his earlier term as well as in his new innings—has adopted a strategy to select the “right” beneficiary through the use of a slew of data monitoring mechanisms. So whether it was targeted under the Swachh Bharat Mission for toilet coverage or LPG connections to rural households in his first term, the Modi government left no stone unturned to underline his development delivery mechanism. And the budget took his strategy to a new level. This year’s budget was another band-aid solution to India’s economic crisis.

IN HIS FIRST term, the government targeted 220 million poor people where tangible basic necessities were to be delivered. The focus was on closing the loop of basic necessities: people must have a house, a toilet, an LPG connection, electricity, health, and crop insurance, and now in his second term, the Modi government’s focus is on piped water supply. Just before the budget was presented, Modi declared two big targets: piped water for all by 2024 and electricity for all by 2022. His other big target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 continues to hog policy space.