One of the main priorities of the government should be to improve the manufacturing sector and also take key decisions to generate more long-term employment as BJP’s election manifesto had promised a $1.4 trillion investment in infrastructure to boost the labour prospects. This would improve the per-capita GDP or the average income per person as the World Bank uses the per capita GDP to rank countries on the basis of their economic growth.
The second priority to set right or rather restart is the Make in India campaign . This would also streamline the organised sectors in terms of employment and make India a global manufacturing destination.
Privatisation of Air India was stalled by the Modi government during its earlier tenure for various reasons and renewal of the same would mark the beginning of privatisation of various government-owned entities . Also, as decided by the government lifting of foreign direct investment cap on Air India would make it easier to sell.
Considering the expansion of industrialisation, steps are to be taken to lower the land acquisition cost .
The labour reforms that were started during the earlier tenure remains incomplete as drafts. The ministry to unify the existing labour laws had drafted four labour codes such as industrial relations, wages, social security and welfare, occupational safety, health and working conditions, which has to be enacted through the legislative route.
To improve the credit availability and to boost the capital , the government has to make amendments with respect to Insolvency and Bankruptcy code as more than 48 per cent of the cases could not be resolved in 180 days and 30 per cent of the cases have surpassed the limit of 270 days set out in IBC.
One of the major concerns is the liquidity issue due to the crisis among Non-Banking Financial Companies , as there is a never ending default of repayments. The Government should put a stop to any new loan disbursements, as any further increase in the number of defaults would critically affect the economy and engulf the financial sector of the country.
In theBJP manifesto in its earlier term it was promised that farmers’ income would be doubled by 2022 and hence the government should take steps in reducing the cost incurred by the farmers by fixing solar power irrigation, solar power pumps for the ground water and most importantly for protection against weather crisis.
Conclusion
It is time too that the government prioritises the policies into small-, medium- and long-term, and concentrate on that accordingly. The biggest criticism during the earlier tenure was failure to generate employment and not introducing labour-intensive schemes. So considering it to be the top priority, government should take steps to increase the employment as early as possible.
(The writer is in 2nd year MBA at IFMR-GSB, Krea University.)