Dear Rahul Gandhi, Here’s Why Your NYAY Scheme Frightens Me

Dear Rahul Gandhi,

I come from a very privileged background, and I don't have any expertise in economics. Yet, your minimum income scheme, NYAY, frightens me deeply. Let me explain why.

To give context, I have spent a few years working as a physician in a government hospital in Bengaluru.

A potential misuse of this scheme can occur in a family, which has a member who is addicted to some vice, be it alcohol, drugs or gambling. I have seen countless wives burdened financially, physically and emotionally by alcoholic husbands. I can still recollect their pleas to let their alcoholic husbands die, so as to stem the financial drain on their households.

This is why this scheme, which offers cash as an incentive to a low-income household, seems misguided to me.

A minimum income, used in the right way, should support universal access to basic requirements, like healthcare, education, nutrition and shelter. The provision of cash in no way guarantees this.

While much has been done by the government (current and past) to provide these basic amenities at subsidised costs, a mere glance at any government hospital will show the enormous amount of work that remains to be done.

I propose two alternatives for this scheme:

1) Taking a leaf out of the corporate sector's use of meal coupons, a similar provision can be made to ensure that the funds are utilised effectively. These coupons can be used for any basic requirements, while preventing the funds from being abused. I'll leave it up to you to work out the details of how such a thing can be implemented.

2) Instead of giving out cash directly, please focus on strengthening the current infrastructure. Many of the countries with a Universal Income Scheme already have basic infrastructure in place.

I appreciate your desire to help the marginalised, and the economically weaker sections of society, and I hope you will follow it up with strong and sensible actions.

Sincerely,
A concerned citizen

(The writer is a doctor at St John’s Medical College, Bengaluru.)

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