Universal basic income

Unemployment is not merely an economic issue but a fundamental political challenge that strikes at the heart of how we organise our societies

बेरोज़गारी केवल एक आर्थिक मुद्दा नहीं है, बल्कि एक मौलिक राजनीतिक चुनौती है जो हमारे समाज को संगठित करने के तरीके पर आघात करती है

 India is not producing enough good quality jobs for its people.

 What is A good quality job ?

This provides dignity, adequate compensation, an opportunity for learning, and advancement for those who strive. 

किस प्रकार का काम अवेलेबल है हमारे देश में ?

Instead, many jobs are unpaid, informal, and dead end. 

Counting as employed, a person needs to have reported working for only one month in an entire year.

.

A twofold problem

how do we give people a 

• sense of dignity and purpose, 
• means for financial support? 

Traditionally, people have derived dignity and purpose through a combination of community, work, and political engagement. 

. As a result, work has become the dominant entry point into a broader sense of community and political engagement.

गरीब और अमीर में क्या अंतर है ?

While the elite

Elite person find purpose and status through their control over societal discourse and decision-making, which also bring them substantial financial rewards,

lack both dignity and financial security 

but large sections of our population feel they lack both dignity and financial security. 

This disparity is likely to worsen as technological advancements and capital concentration potentially displace large numbers of workers, perhaps permanently. 

कुछ और प्रश्न जिनकी उत्तर मिलना बाकी है ??

how we structure our society, what we value, and how we include everyone — is fundamentally political. 

But political response 

has been inadequate, oscillating between deferring to market forces and resorting to short-term partisanship. 

The market-oriented approach 

is reflected in the superficial mantra of ‘creative destruction,’ suggesting that old jobs and industries will be seamlessly replaced by new and better ones. 

Basic universal income is best ?

politicians and capitalists have mooted universal basic income (UBI) as a solution. 

UBI is a minimum “income” received by all citizens of a given population as financial transfers from the government without having to work.

inequality and an assault on human dignity

it is important to recognise that inequality and an assault on human dignity are inherent in the very concept. 

UBI implies that a significant portion of the population is no longer needed in the economy, with a smaller subset “paying” for the rest. 

technology and capital will create outsized winners while the majority will merely survive on their . 

UBI might encourage more anger and populism because people want to contribute and thrive, not just survive on the sidelines.

mere economic transfers

UBI would shift focus from structural reforms to mere economic transfers and thus entrench elite power by insulating them from pressures to address fundamental inequities in the economy and labour markets.

 It risks recasting the state as a mere distributor of funds rather than the architect and arbitrator of societal processes required to create a just and participatory social and economic system.

Addressing structural issues

.

 Some political leaders are mindful of the long term, but institutionally, parties have become too narrow in their scope to address larger questions such as unemployment and have reduced their ambitions to winning elections alone. 

In fact, the failure to anticipate and address long-term structural issues is a key reason why people feel neglected by the political class and view politics as a cynical game. 

जब सरकार ही सक्षम नहीं है तो लोग क्या सोचते हैं?

they lose faith in democratic institutions.

 Thus parties and institutions must find ways to address structural issues, including unemployment, inequality, and dignity; 

. We are witnessing this globally through the rise of populism, authoritarianism, and civic disengagement.

Political parties must provide meaningful leadership 

by addressing structural issues head-on without resorting to deflection or partisanship. 

The future of Indian democracy — and the continued relevance of our political institutions — hinges on our ability to restore a broader sense of public purpose and economic participation to the centre of our national dialogue.

Source the hindu