Atmanirbhar Bharat Package-Part 1- Desperate Times – Desperate Measures

 

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic knocked the Indian doors in the month of January 2020. The year which was supposed to see the fulfilment of the ‘Vision 2020’ of Late Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, actually posed many serious challenges in front of our nation and the government. A virus emerging from the Wuhan province of China soon gripped the entire globe in its tentacles. Though the initial phase of the pandemic’s arrival in India did not look much grave, gradually it started turning into a one of the most disturbing phenomenon witnessed by all the living generations of the day.

 

For the Indian Economy it was nothing less than a nightmare. The already sluggish GDP growth rate rapidly turned southwards and started demanding some concrete policy response from the government. With the ‘Tablighi super-spreaders’ the situation on ground started worsening day by day. This compelled the government to impose a nationwide lockdown, which had to be extended five times. The national lockdown, though vital for controlling the spread of the Chinese virus, halted the economic activity almost completely. Apart from the 20% economic activities as ‘Necessary Activities’ like hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and other necessary services, etc. and around 15% agricultural activities, the remaining 65% economic activities came to a complete halt. As a result the flow of money and resources in the economy also stopped. 

 
 

  

This posed a serious challenge of economic crises and all the stakeholders like workers, entrepreneurs, salaried people, and even the government started facing a serious revenue crunch. With the stopping of flow of liquidity in the markets the purchasing power of the consumers dipped thereby adversely decreasing the demand for goods and services. This in turn disturbed the supply and production side of the economy. All in all the growth rate of the economy started to fall rapidly. This situation posed several problems like steep rise in unemployment, lack of liquidity in the market and so on and so forth.

 

The government now had a dual challenge; first, to arrest the spread of the dreaded disease and secondly, to stop the downfall of the economy and quickly push it into the revival mode. While the global super powers were getting depressed due to the uncontrolled spread of the disease and rising number of deaths, the Indian response was composed and calculative. The Prime Minister, through his assertive speeches, gave a very positive message to the nation and the economy. While tackling the containment of the disease on a war footing, the economic issues were also getting priority. Series of efforts like the 1.70 Lakh Crore ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana’ in two stages coupled with the monetary measures of the Reserve Bank were the first steps towards the goal.

 

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Package announced by the Prime Minister on 12th May 2020 followed by the 5 presentations made by the Finance Minister laid down a clear path for the revival of economy from the pandemic crises. While the details of the package are discussed in the following parts of this series, it is imperative to understand the logic behind this package. There is a famous idiom in Urdu by a poet Mir Taqi Mir “Jaan hai to Jahan hai” (Only if you live my dear, you do have the world ahead of you). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while announcing the first lockdown had used the idiom to appeal to the citizens to strictly follow the lockdown rules in order save lives. But while announcing the second phase of the lockdown he tweaked the idiom and announced that the government aims to protect ‘jaan’ as well as offer ‘jahan’ to the nation. This was a great positive signal for the revival of the economy. While the other nations seemed to have taken over by the feeling of helplessness and surrender, Indian government was gearing up to not only give a brave & tough fight to the Chinese virus but also to turn the calamity into an opportunity.

 

The clarion call by the Prime Minister about ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or self-reliance can no less be compared to the rise of Japan after the nuclear attack in world war two or the superb rise of Israel after it birth. This call has awakened the aspirations of millions of Indian, to innovate and fight back. It has given a new vision and a sense of faith on oneself and one’s nation and served as a pep talk. The slogans like ‘vocal for local’ have motivated the Indian entrepreneurship and have again set the wheel rolling. We are now one of the largest exporters of PPE kits and those too producing superior quality products at very low cost. These desperate measures taken in these desperate times are proving that though the Indian economy is currently passing through a dark tunnel the end of the tunnel is very near and greener pastures lie ahead.