The HINDU EDITORIAL Analysis and Notes september 16,2019

THE HINDU EDITORIAL NOTES

World renowned Economic experts were too late in predicting the 2008 recession, Is Indian economy on a similar path to recession and has our economists failed to predict it sooner
The Indian economy has been witnessing 5 consecutive quarters of slow growth,the recently release quarter estimates puts the gdp growth rate @ 5%, Yet the economic survey and RBI estimates has put 7% gdp growth rate
The international institutions although doubtful of India's data collection has no other way than to rely on official figures published by India government ,hence they projected 7% growth rate
Even if the economy is growing at 5% growth rate, which is not a bad number,the real question is why is the economy not attracting investment and why has consumption become stagnant
Realizing the gravity of slow down ,the finance ministry,RBI ,NITI Aayog ,PMEAC has now gone into a post budget reform measures to revive growth,but these measures fail to address the root cause of the problem

The bank mergers or interest rate cuts means little to attract investors when the capacity utilization is poor.
Similarly the RBI surplus transfer will be used by the Govt to compensate for the fall in tax revenue and to meet fiscal targets but will fail to provide succor to ailing economy
The root cause of the problem however lies in unorganized sector which has been in decline since demonetization ,which was further hit by complex and haphazard roll out of GST
Unorganized sector which contributes to 45% of output and employs 94% of workers has been in decline ever since the reforms and this is now being reflected in the overall economic slowdown
The data for the unorganized sector is collected once in every 5 years (reference years) unlike quarterly annual estimates of organized sectors.
The key parameters used in gdp estimates such as latest estimates of Agricultural production ,index of industrial production (IIP) and performance of key sectors,most of these sector except agriculture belong to organized sector.
Thus the implicit assumption of organized sector data being used as a proxy for unorganized sector has failed
The declining workforce ,rising demand for MGNREGA works all points out that unorganized sector has at least declined by 10%
The Government must act now as there is an urgent need to collate data for unorganized sector as over reliance on organized sector data has led to gross miscalculation

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Learn more about the problems with current growth estimates, here

Several loopholes in the process of substitution of article 370 make the action problematic
Technically article 370 has not been abrogated,but the exclusive special status granted to J&K vis a vis The Indian Constitution has been modified so that all provision of Indian Constitution can now be made applicable to J&k as well
The manner in which the article 370 special status was removed through modified interpretations amounts to a larger legal debate

Firstly the Government issued a Constitution order on August 5,2019 , which allowed article 367 interpretation clause to be applicable in article 370
Secondly the president order interpreted the term “the constituent assembly of the state” with “legislative assembly of the state”
Thirdly the Union government as part of its long planned strategy used the prevailing president rule in j&k to its advantage ,ie.,the powers of state legislative assembly during president rule would be subsumed by parliament
Thus finally parliament recommended the abrogation of article 370 to the president , who in turn signed the order
Lastly to compensate for the the term "concurrence of the Government of the state of Jammu and Kashmir" , it was modified as "Governor acting on the advice of cabinet" .

Thus the chain of legal events,depends ultimately on the procedural and legal validity of the Presidential order to amend 370(3) and interpretation of Governor appointed by the central government as state government of Kashmir.

The then home minister Gulzari lal nanda once remarked that article 370 is not a wall rather a tunnel that connects Indian government with Kashmir people .The current government has failed to realize this special relation that existed between Indian government and Kashmir people.

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Learn more about the article 370 facts for upsc exam,here

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The recent fiscal stimulus measures announced by Finance minister in her press conferences holds promise to revive the economy from slow down
Especially the recent set of reforms ,
A corpus to complete unfinished housing projects ,
Relaxation of External Commercial Borrowing(ECB) rules &
Tax rebates for exporters
These steps are indeed welcome move but will these measures address issues in lack of demand and other supply side measures is yet to be seen
In addition to such piecemeal measures,The Government which came back on a huge mandate must undertake structural reforms in land and labor laws to address the ongoing structural slowdown.

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       Learn more about the recent economic slowdown and reform measures,here

The Rajasthan government recently unveiled Jan soochna portal will complement the RTI act.
The portal details various schemes run by 13 govt department by not only explaining the scheme but also providing real time information on beneficiaries ,the progress and authorities involved
The portal provides in depth information coverage up to panchayat levels, this effort can be emulated by other state governments too
When the RTI laws are being diluted at the central level ,this new initiative of Rajasthan government comes as a great boon to RTI activists
The important section 4(2) of RTI act which enjoins upon public authorities to proactively disclose information has hitherto been neglected ,Jan Soochna Portal(JSP) seems to be revolutionary in that regard
While union and some state governments have already taken part in e governance blitz,the information are often dispersed and difficult to parse whereas Jan soochna portal provides a comprehensive detailed real time information
Thus JSP can enhance transparency and accountability, now it is up to the government to ensure the information flows uninterruptedly
While digital connectivity and literacy have increased over time ,these have not adequately translated into digital knowledge of public affairs,hence it is also the prerogative of government to educate the citizen on the use of data on the portal.

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Learn more about Jan soochna portal facts for upsc exam ,here

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