Follow Us
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 11
BJP’s ideological fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is completely backing the Narendra Modi government on its economic policies, despite a much visible slowdown.
Talking to The Tribune after three-day all-India ‘samanvay baithak’ (coordination meeting of the Sangh parivar) at Pushkar, Ashwani Mahajan of Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an RSS affiliate that deals with economic issues, said the slowdown was only a “transitory/ temporary” phase in the Indian economy. “If we look at the demand figures in the country, it seems that there has been some slowdown in demand generally, however, it (slowdown) is not uniform,” he said.
“The slowdown is a global phenomenon and not specific to India. If we look at the demand for the consumer goods, if we look at the sales of figures of big Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) companies, we note that Hindustan Lever recorded 7 per cent growth in their sales during last quarter (April-June). Marico company recorded a growth of 5 per cent, Dabur India 11 per cent, Colgate Palmolive 4 per cent and Nestle 11 per cent. In the same quarter Big Bazar recorded a growth of 8 per cent in their sales,” he claimed.
Regarding the much-visible auto sales crash, Mahajan said the slowdown in exports is due to international reasons while the decrease in demand for automobiles was because of domestic reasons but “definitely not due to recession”. “Banking and finance is behind the woes of automobile sector,” he said. At the same time, he adviced the government, to “rein in and streamline e-commerce companies avoiding paying taxes by under reporting their businesses in India and following unethical business models” instead of “protecting corporate”
“It is the new businesses avoiding taxes that need to be taken care of. Their predatory pricing is spelling doom for Indian businesses. Many foreign telecom, software and e commerce companies are avoiding paying taxes by under reporting businesses in India, adopting unethical business models, doing deliberate cash burning and showing losses.
“For this, the government will have to streamline its systems so that legitimate revenues can be collected from these companies. Where the government is unable to tax under the rules, the principles of presumptive tax and minimum alternate tax should be adopted to tax such errant companies,” Mahajan said.
Notably the Pushkar baithak was the first Sangh meeting after the Narendra Modi government returned to power at the Centre with a thumping majority. It also came at a time when the country is passing through one of its worst phases on the economic front. While such meetings are closed door, appearently issues related to developments in the country and decisions taken by the BJP-led government at the Centre, like doing away of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Articles 370 and 35 A of the Constitution, and the health of the country’s economy were discussed.
Regarding economy, Sangh affiliates like the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch have sought a course correction in sectors like textile, auto and real estate. But if statements coming from the representatives of trade and economic wings are any indication, the Sangh is completely backing the government.
As per Mahajan there is a problem with the economy but it is “momentary and not deep rooted. “I don’t say there is no need to re-look at the policy…I am certainly not saying that. But to say that because of the government it is happening is wrong. Given the distinction of being fastest growing large economy of the world, any talk of slowdown in the economy disturbs the sentiments.
“Indian banking sector has been going through the problems of NPA for some time. Following the ‘ILFS’ scam, the NBFC sector has come under severe stress. The lending capacity of these companies has not only decreased, but the banks are also reluctant to provide refinancing to them. So these companies which were giving loans to consumers in large numbers to buy durable goods, including automobiles; houses etc are now unable to serve them. This problem has also affected the lending to small scale industries. The need of the hour is to increase the demand for durable consumer goods, houses and vehicles, banks can play a major role for this,” he said.