Editorial 1. Gandhi in Amrit Kal
Context:
- January 30 this year will mark 75 years since Mahatma Gandhi fell to an assassin’s bullet while on his way to hold the daily prayer meeting at Birla House
- It is important to learn at the time of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebration from the teaching and life of Gandhi who dedicated his life for India’s freedom struggle and global peace and solidarity.
The Vision of Gandhi for India
- Gandhi’s ambitions for India went far beyond the achievement of political independence from colonial rule.
- For him, the people of India could not be truly free
- without social emancipation, economic empowerment and, above all,
- a shared sense of solidarity and empathy transcending multiple identities of language, religion and cultural traditions.
- It is his vision that permeates the Constitution of India which remains the sheet anchor of Indian democracy.
Gandhi’s teachings are bedrock of India’s democracy
- Throughout history, the world has seen many kinds of leaders of men and women. Some have been conquerors who let their swords speak to power. Others connected their followers with the intangible power of the spirit.
- These were the great religious and spiritual leaders whose legacy still has the power to both unite and divide our world.
- Some became leaders by conjuring up the worst of our instincts. Others led multitudes by bringing out what is most noble and uplifting in our nature. One kind leads by igniting hate. Another by spreading love and compassion
- It is easy to see what kind of leader Gandhi was. He made the most humble and poverty-stricken Indian feel that he was a participant in something larger than himself
- It is being argued that violence against the colonial rulers also played a role in gaining independence for India and those who struck violent blows against them must also be celebrated and paid homage to.
- That does not detract from the direct connection between India’s democracy and the legacy of non-violence inherited from Gandhi.
- Non-violent political and social change, which is so fundamental to democracy, is a Gandhian bequest.
- In honouring revolutionary leaders who embraced violence as an instrument to defeat colonial rule, one should resist the incipient temptation to glorify violence as a legitimate instrument to achieve political ends in general.
- One may argue that revolutionary violence against colonial rule was legitimate and should be acknowledged, but it should also be made explicitly clear that in an independent democratic state, there is no room whatsoever for any recourse to violence.
- Gandhi understood clearly that violence, once unleashed, rarely stays selective, which is why even against colonial rule he preached non-violent resistance.
Gandhi’s contribution during freedom struggle which are still relevant:
- Gandhi gets the credit for transforming what was an idea of Indian independence among a small educated and English-speaking elite into a mass and people-centred movement.
- He gave the struggle for freedom a vernacular dimension, rooted in India’s own civilisational heritage. He knew from his own experience how easy it was to slip comfortably into the ranks of a privileged elite and lose touch with the mass of Indian people.
- It was this concern which led him to suggest that, after India gained independence in 1947, the Congress disbanded itself as a political party and remained a mass movement dedicated to the social and economic transformation of the people of India.
- Having travelled through the length and breadth of undivided India, Gandhi was aware of the civilisational anchors which underlay its endurance and was able to use them to forge an overarching national identity.
- But he was also aware that there were deeply ingrained fault lines which could erupt and engulf the national project.
- These fault lines could be social, such as the caste system and the horrendous practice of untouchability. They could be religious and communal such as the Hindu-Muslim divide. Gandhi was uncompromising in condemning untouchability and rejecting distinctions based on caste, creed, and religion
Gandhi’s idea of Vasudev Kutumbakam, a path toward Religious harmony:
- Gandhi was a devout Hindu and acknowledged that Indians in general, whether Hindu or Muslim, Sikh or Christian, were all devout adherents of their respective faiths.
- For him India could only be a secular country, with all religious faiths co-existing in harmony and in mutual respect. The Partition of India was a deeply wounding experience for him which he took as a personal failure.
- It is an irony that he was assassinated for ostensibly allowing India to be divided based on religion when nothing was more distressing and tragic for him.
- Till the very end he used his immense prestige and reverence among the masses to stop communal riots and indiscriminate slaughter.
- It is even more important today to reflect on Gandhi’s legacy as the communal fault line is bubbling to the surface again.
Conclusion
As we celebrate the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, let us also recall how the Gandhian values of non-violence, inclusiveness and communal harmony enabled India to establish a unique democracy achieving momentous economic and social transformation through the ballot box rather than through the barrel of the gun.
Editorial 2. A push for small business
Recent Context:
- India overtook the UK as the world’s fifth-largest economy in 2022, and is on track to achieving government vision of a $5 trillion economy by 2026-27.
- Despite concerns of a looming global recession, supply disruptions and the Russia-Ukraine war, India has stood out as a bright spot, growing faster than most major emerging markets.
Role of MSME in India’s economic growth and development:
- The 6.3 crore micro, small and medium enterprises which account for 30 per cent of GDP and employ nearly 11 crore people have demonstrated this spirit of resilience.
- With sales in several industries across the MSME sector reaching 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, India’s small businesses are scripting a turnaround.
Government’s initiative for MSME
- A lot of the credit for this bounceback goes to the government for its proactive interventions, such as extending the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, overhauling the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises and
- Rolling out the Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme to boost self-employment.
- largely unorganised nature of our MSMEs, rising interest rates and a deteriorating external environment make it imperative to address their pain points on an ongoing basis.
- The Union budget 2023 presents an opportunity for our visionary government to amp up its efforts towards making our MSMEs competitive and self-reliant.
Steps need to be taken by government for e-commerce and small online business
- Streamlining input tax credit for e-commerce suppliers is one such intervention.
- Currently, suppliers selling on e-commerce platforms need to procure input services like logistics, which are taxed at 18 per cent.
- Assuming an online supplier deals in apparel, which attracts 5 per cent or 12 per cent GST, there is an accumulation of input tax credit. This leads to precious working capital getting blocked without any visibility of future realisation, potentially discouraging suppliers from adopting e-marketplaces.
- Between April and November 2022, as many as 2.9 lakh sellers on Meesho, dealing in products that attract less than 18 per cent GST, saw input tax credit accumulation of Rs 265 crore on account of this inverted duty structure.
- From meeting fixed expenses such as electricity, rent and employee wages to investing in future growth, adequate working capital is a must for small businesses.
- By lowering GST rates on input services availed by online sellers, the government will not only shore up their finances but also give a leg-up to their digitisation journey. Further, refunds of accumulated input tax credit will improve their cash flow situation.
- There is also a need to expedite GST relaxation for small online businesses. In a landmark move last year, the GST Council announced a relaxation of rules for small businesses looking to go online.
- Among other measures, mandatory GST registration was waived for small online vendors with a turnover of less than Rs 40 lakh and Rs 20 lakh for goods and services, respectively.
- These changes, aimed at bringing parity between online and offline sellers, were expected to come into force from January 2023 but will now be implemented by October 2023.
- With just 10 per cent of our MSMEs currently online, expeditious implementation of these new norms is key to unlocking their full potential.
- hoping to reap the benefits of digitisation such as a much bigger addressable market, increased efficiencies and easier access to capital.
Role of National logistic Policy to make MSMEs competitive
- The National Logistics Policy can also be leveraged to make our MSMEs competitive.
- The NLP aims to bring down logistics costs as a percentage of the GDP from 13-14 per cent to 8 per cent, on par with developed nations.
- While lower costs will encourage more MSMEs to use tech-powered logistics services, they will need support to tap rising e-commerce demand from smaller towns and semi-rural areas.
- To this end, the government could rope in India Post as a tech-enabled last-mile delivery partner that can facilitate cash-on-delivery transactions at competitive prices.
- Similarly, the unparalleled reach of Indian Railways can be synergised to ship wares to the remotest parts of the country quickly and cost-effectively.
Conclusion
With a visionary government charting out the nation’s growth path, It is expected that that the government’s budget would deliver on the above challenges for MSMEs and take us closer to the dream of an Atmanirbhar Bharat