MUMBAI: The Indian government will be releasing its budget for 2020 onSaturday, facing stuttering growth and a record unemployment rate, witha jump in inflation that has further widened India’s wealth gap.
A botched nationwide tax rollout, the 2016 shock cash ban, and a sharpliquidity crunch in the vast shadow banking sector all played their part increating the crisis that roils Asia’s third-largest economy.
*AFP *spoke to Indians from different sections of society about the impactof the economic slowdown, which has put Prime Minister Narendra Modi underconsiderable pressure.Unemployed millennial
An engineering degree from a prominent university followed by a job thatpaid 42,000 rupees ($590) a month: Rahul thought he was set for life.
But when the slowdown struck and companies laid off thousands, Rahul —whose name has been changed at his request — lost his job and has beenstruggling to land another.
“I am constantly sending my resume hoping to get an interview call butcompanies barely respond. The situation is depressing,” he said.
The 27-year-old told *AFP *he now relies on his father’s savings andpensions to keep their household running.Drowning in debt
At 50, Saroj Ahire was forced to take two jobs and work through the nightto earn 15,000 rupees a month, simply to keep her head above water.
But the increase in income is no match for inflation, she said.
“By the 25th of every month, I run out of cash and have to buy rice on loanfrom local shopkeepers,” the domestic worker told AFP.
With rising prices prompting her to think twice about what she eats —onions are now a luxury rather than a staple — planning for the future isimpossible.
Working for wealthy households only makes her feel worse, said Ahire, whoshares a cramped one-room shanty with four family members.
“Watching them enjoy good food while I clean their homes… it causes a bitof heartburn for sure,” she said.
“We also want to live a good life and eat well.”What about the wealthy
Not everyone is faring poorly. India’s stock markets have been hittingrecord highs, bringing cheer to investors with enough cash to plough.
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A report by the charity Oxfam published last week said the wealth ofIndia’s top one percent increased by a staggering 46 percent over the pastyear.
“Select stocks have done very well and since rich people have higherallocation of their wealth in equities they would have gotten richer,” R.Venkataraman, managing director of financial services firm IIFL Securities,told *AFP*.
“Otherwise it’s very difficult to give a figure of 46 percent increase inwealth in an economy like this.”
Reliance Industries, helmed by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, becameIndia’s most valuable company with a market capitalisation of more than 10trillion rupees in 2019.’Just too scary’
As the “feel-good factor” evaporates for everyone in India except thesuper-rich, consumers are cautious about spending on non-essential goods.
Shopkeeper Aslam Malkani, whose Mumbai store stocks smartphone accessories,told *AFP *sales had plunged more than 80 percent over the past eightmonths.
“We open the shop and wait but there are no customers,” the 36-year-oldsaid.
“I have been working since I turned 16 and have never seen this extent ofslowdown. It’s just too scary.”‘Hope is dimming’
For some, the slowdown has made already difficult lives even moreprecarious.
Every morning, Munna Singh joins hundreds of migrant workers waiting at acrowded Mumbai junction, all hoping to be picked up for a job — frommasonry to construction to cleaning sewage pipes.
Singh, 45, left his village in northern India six months ago, desperate toearn a living.
“Every day, from 6 am to noon, we wait for some work but hope is dimming,”he said, adding that he sometimes goes two or three days without a meal.
“Where are the jobs?” – APP/AFP
