PM Modi’s austerity push isn’t economic Emergency. He is preparing India for a global crisis |
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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit
ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures
Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story
More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice
PM Modi’s austerity push isn’t economic Emergency. He is preparing India for a global crisis
The Modi government needs to do much more than just asking Indians to tighten their belts. The current economic crisis demands long-term structural reforms.
As the dust settles after the elections and the Congress finally finds a candidate for Kerala’s chief ministerial post, national attention is returning to the energy crisis triggered by the West Asia conflict. It is surprising that the political class is behaving as though the war between US-Israel and Iran began only last week, when election results were announced. But the conflict has been tormenting global energy markets for more than three and a half months. Several Asian countries have already initiated emergency measures and restrictions on energy use, not merely as suggestions, but through enforceable administrative orders backed by punitive action for violations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suggested a ‘seven-point programme’ to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis and tide over the current shortages arising from the West Asia conflict. These suggestions include avoiding gold purchases for at least one year, cancelling foreign travel and destination weddings, encouraging work from home (WFH), decreasing fertiliser use by about 50 per cent, reducing edible oil consumption, promoting carpooling and public transport, encouraging the use of electric vehicles (EVs) for local transport, and emphasising ‘Be Indian, Buy Indian’ by encouraging swadeshi products.
The cumulative effect of these suggestions, if followed seriously by a large section of consumers, is........