Our economy has potential to afford NYAY scheme: Praveen Chakravarty

Congress’ Data Analytics Department Chairperson Praveen Chakravarty discussed the NYAY scheme and said that our economy has the potential to absorb an ambitious scheme like this. He also claimed that Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian had advised the Modi government in 2017 but they chose to ignore it.

New Delhi: The NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) scheme was announced by Congress President Rahul Gandhi under which he promised to provide Rs 72,000 p.a to 20 per cent of the country's poorest households.

In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, veteran economist and Congress’ Data Analytics Department Chairperson Praveen Chakravarty discussed in detail about the Congress' proposed minimum income guarantee scheme or NYAY scheme.

Speaking on how the scheme would benefit the poor families of the country, Praveen said, "Nearly 5 crore poor families will be benefitted from the scheme. The average income of the poorest 20% of families in the country at present is Rs 6,000. Our aim is to make their income rise up to Rs 12,000 which in a way will strengthen their living standards and will empower them to live a decent livelihood."

When inquired on the questions raised on the feasibility of the scheme by the opposition which had also termed it as "jumla", Praveen said, "In the Economic Survey Report, Chief Economic Advisor, Arvind Subramanian had advised the Modi government to include Universal Basic Income scheme in the country in 2017. Then how can the NYAY scheme be a 'Jumla' today?"'

"The NYAY scheme aims to remonetise what Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised. At its peak, it can cost Rs 3.5 lakh crore which is not more than 1.4 or 1.5% of India’s GDP. The current government is spending more than 60 lakh crore rupees annually on various schemes. Therefore, to manage around Rs 3 lakh crore for the poorest won't be a difficult task," he added.

Claiming that the scheme will also boost the economy further, Congress Data Analytics chief said, "The moment you put money in the hands of the people in need, it immediately leads to a consumption boost. It restarts the economic engine, creates new job avenues which empower the poor and kickstarts the economy. Faster growth of the economy under this scheme is almost guaranteed."

Praveen Chakravarty said that the data analytics team have consulted various experts and economists from India and abroad. "We have taken advice from around 15 economists and experts from the world, including Raghuram Rajan, MIT professor, Abhijeet Bannerjee. We have also studied numerous papers and other research material on this subject, before deciding to include the plan in its Lok Sabha manifesto."

Reacting to apprehensions expressed by certain economists, on the difficulty the scheme might face in a large population, Chakravarty said, "Our party has run extensive schemes like MNREGA in the past with the backing of Manmohan Singh and P. Chidambaram, who have also been closely associated with NYAY scheme as well."

He further added that while the country couldn’t have had the capacity to implement a scheme of this nature a decade ago, the Indian economy now has the potential to absorb an ambitious scheme like this.