Budget 2020: Dr. Kirit Parikh wants Finance Minister to put more money in the hands of people

Increase in purchasing power of the consumers will spruce up demands in the market which would incentivize investment and production, said Dr. Kirit Parikh demanding more money from the government for people of the country.

Eminent Economist Dr. Kirit Parikh has urged the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to present the budget with the aim of increasing purchasing power of the common people. According to Dr. Parikh, this is important to stimulate investment and revive the economy.

“Several reports are predicting slowdown and worsening state of the economy in India. The improper implementation of schemes such as multiple GST returns in a year are posing challenges before small scale entrepreneurs,” said Dr. Parikh. He was speaking to Devdiscourse on his budget expectations on the sidelines of 2 days Waste Management Series of Summits (WMSS 2020) in New Delhi concluded on Friday.

“In the budget, the government should focus on increasing demand in the market for which it requires to put more money in the hands of people. The government should seriously consider on direct money transfer for farmers and poor section of the population which will ultimately increase their purchasing capacity and incentivize production and investment,” he added. Dr. Parikh is presently Chairman of Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), New Delhi. He has been a Member of the Planning Commission of India rechristened as NITI Aayog and worked as a member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) with several prime ministers of India such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, P. V. Narasimha Rao, Chandra Shekhar, V. P. Singh, and Rajiv Gandhi. “The government needs to increase demands both in domestic as well as in international market. There is great need to facilitate export by removing slashing taxation and making them competitive with the international market. The government should not hesitate to reduce the taxes where it could not have done,” he added. Dr. Parikh highlighted that due to burden of multiple GST filing, small investors are being forced to give up the entrepreneurship. Dr. Parikh holds a Doctor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master's Degree in Economics from MIT, USA. He is Former (Founder) Director (Vice Chancellor), Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai.