Change is under way, but it’s uneven: Jaitley

Striking an optimistic note over transformative ideas sweeping the country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that India is undergoing a change for the better. But the impact of these changes is uneven and is not being felt uniformly across the country, he noted.

“Change is happening in India. But the trouble is that it is a little lop-sided and happening only in parts of the country,” he said at the first BusinessLine Changemaker awards ceremony.

BusinessLine has instituted the awards to commemorate its 25th year. These awards train the spotlight on people who have brought about a significant transformation in the lives of people and society. The awards recognise and reward individuals, entities and organisations across five categories for work that has materially improved people’s lives, boosted the economy and contributed to sustainable development.

In a conversation with BusinessLine Editor Raghavan Srinivasan, the Finance Minister said that change is yet to happen in rural and tribal India.

“Change in the North, West and South of India is faster than in the East,” he added.

The Minister noted that while in social campaigns such as “ Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao ” and Swachh Bharat and sanitation, a lot of strides have been made, but in other areas of behaviour such as paying taxes, “the whole attitude has to change”.

Noting that it is a global norm for people to pay their taxes honestly, Jaitley rued that “in India, it is not accepted as a social or personal philosophy”.

In India, he said, it is not considered unethical to bypass paying taxes to the state.

“One may be deeply religious and philosophical and doing a lot of philanthropy. But it is not part of their duty to pay every rupee of public finance that they are supposed to pay,” he said, adding that this must change and in some cases, there has to be an element of compulsion along with campaigns.

The Finance Minister also noted that there is a lot more fiscal discipline at the Centre.

But with the 14th Finance Commission, larger amount of resources are flowing to the States, and that has prompted some of the States to give handouts as it is considered “easy politics” and a vote-winning mechanism.

Asked whether the States that gave cheap power and ran their electricity boards to the ground won elections, he said, “I don’t think this is the case”. He stressed that States can and must subsidise the poor and the deserving in certain sectors such as education, food and health.

‘Ruinous to the economy’

But if they go beyond this section, they end up ruining their economies, he warned.

“Even States that were traditionally affluent have now become fragile,” he said, noting that a case in point is Punjab.

Jaitley also highlighted that in recent years, India has seen transformative changes in sectors like highways and telecommunications, where users are willing to pay for world-class services.

“As long as users continue to pay for the services, the quality of services will continue to be good,” he said. The Finance Minister maintained that big ideas are taking shape and mega projects such as ports, industrial corridors and new townships are coming up.

“At a certain level in the country, a lot of these activities are taking place,” he said.

In fact, there are now 17-20 cities in the country, whose living standards match that of Delhi and Mumbai, he said.

“People, especially those who can afford high-quality services, must realise that they have to pay to get the best services,” Jaitley said, adding that the state can only subsidise those at the bottom of the pyramid.

On the area of sanitation, Jaitley said that substantial progress has been made.

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