Charles Dickens’ celebrated work ‘A tale of two cities’ begins with the following lines: “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair”. These lines are not just a metaphorical altercation but a portrayal of poverty and injustice prevalent prior to the French Revolution. Poverty is a multi-faceted phenomena which revolves around social, economic and political causes. The World Bank in its report in 1990 defined it as “a lack of power to command resources”. The ghost of poverty has always haunted India. It ranked 94th among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index and 62nd in the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (Global MPI)1 in 2020. As Amartya Sen puts it in his ‘Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation’: “Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough food to eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough food to eat”. In 2019, Sustainable Development Goal Index published by the NITI Ayog gave us the devastating number of 34 crore people living below poverty line in India and after the pandemic this number has increased immensely but everyone is concerned with the GDP and stock indexes. The imposition of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic further aggravated these problems. Therefore, the question is: Can UBI turn out to be revolutionary reform for the issues concerning poverty that has hindered India’s growth and development since time immemorial?
WHAT IS UBI?
In simple words, UBI is an economic model that calls for providing a specified sum of money to all the citizens of a country irrespective of their income and employment status. Universal Basic Income comprises five basic elements. It is universal. The payments under UBI are made at regular intervals. It is not a one-time grant. The payments are made to individuals and in cash. There is no condition attached with the transfer of cash to the beneficiary. Martin Luther King Jr. advocated the idea of UBI in these words: “I’m now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective – the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income”. Several visionaries, during the early 16th and 20th centuries, like Thomas More, Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill, and Bertrand Russell propounded the idea of a UBI. Thomas More advocated supplying everyone with a simple means of survival to curb theft. Paine in his celebrated work ‘Utopia’ proposed the formation of a national fund to pay every English person a fixed sum every year. J.S. Mill endorsed a similar idea in these words where he emphasized on providing, “a certain minimum [to] every member of the community, whether capable or not of labor.” Nobel laureates in Economics like- Peter Diamond, Christopher Pissarides and tech giants including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have endorsed it. The idea was also supported by the Economic Survey of India 2016-17 as a means to end issues that have plagued the nation for decades. It suggested fixing the UBI at ₹ 7,620 per annum. The criteria are based on the Suresh Tendulkar poverty line of 2011-12 indexed to 2016-17.
SUBSTANTIVE DIGNITY, UBI AND THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA:
The idea of dignity is generally interpreted in tandem with the intrinsic right of each person to lead a satisfactory life without being influenced by external and internal barriers. But the novel notion also includes adhering to social standards and values to receive acceptance. As per the preamble of the constitution, India is a Socialist country and the whole idea of the Part-IV of the constitution is fulfil the Gandhian dream of “Ram Rajya” which is to achieve the goal of ‘welfare State’. Removal of poverty has lost it place in political agenda of the parties and people are left to their fate.
Substantive dignity allows a person to lead a good life by the invocation of substantive values. The word ‘good life’ is vaguely worded and has various connotations. Broadly it can be understood as living the desired life and fulfilling obligations towards the community at large. The role of the state is of utmost importance in maintaining substantive dignity standards as it is the state which allows a person to live a “dignified life”. It is an undisputed question that the obligation of the law to ensure socio-economic and welfare interests lies under the framework of substantive dignity. This also confirms that the notion of Substantive Dignity is specifically concurrent with human rights of the second generation that have fundamentally covered socio-economic rights. The emergence of dignity jurisprudence can be attributed to the Indian Supreme Court. While innovatively interpreting Article 21, the Court has committed itself to ensure that every person lives with dignity.
The Supreme Court has acted as a torch-bearer of innumerable socio-economic rights enshrined in Part IV under Directive Principles of State Policy by placing them under the umbrella of Article 21 as sacrosanct rights. The glorious Constitution inscribed as a sacred pledge to provide economic justice in the Preamble which is an integral part of the Constitution. Living with dignity includes a lot of facets like the right to food, clothing, and shelter. In modern times basic education can also be regarded as a matter of dignity because it is essential for survival. Through various cases like Francis Coralie v Union Territory of Delhi and Rajesh Yadav v State of U.P., the Court has accorded them the high stature of fundamental rights within the framework of Article 21. It is therefore imperative to understand that these rights cannot be realized due to lack of funds. UBI can prove to be a single answer to all these issues. Therefore, emphasis should be on at least making it a legal right.
CAN UBI BE THE ONE-STOP SOLUTION?
An experiment carried out by Ahmedabad-based non-profit Self -Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) between 2011 and 2013 in Madhya Pradesh. A progressive development was witnessed as the farmers started investing in their cultivation. There was a drastic increase in a small-scale investment like the opening of small shops which impacts a person’s life daily. The problem of malnutrition began to improve and in turn, the educational status improved. SEWA in the end succeeded in proving the effect implementing UBI can have on the life of people. This seems to be a step towards fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of an ideal village on a national level. The SDF in Sikkim also promised to implement UBI by 2022 making it the first state to do so. The 2017 Economic Survey has labelled the UBI scheme as “a conceptually appealing idea” and it has been viewed as a potential medium to mitigate poverty in the nation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation witnessed heart rending stories of migrant workers where they were forced to travel back to their homes on foot. They walked a thousand miles on foot due to a lack of basic amenities which they could not afford. Many of them were daily wagers who lost their jobs. The Indian government announced a relief package of ₹1.7 lakh crore for those most affected by the Covid-19 lockdown. ₹500 was to be paid directly to women with Jan Dhan accounts. The government also raised the daily wage under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme which is a classic example of ‘neo-socialism from ₹182 to ₹202.
Transfer of ₹2,000 each under the PM-KISAN scheme to 86.9 million farmers was announced. Also, a provision was made for free ration supply of rice, pulses, and cooking gas. It was indeed a very welcomed step in times of despair. But do you think it is sufficient? We need to find a permanent solution to these issues. It was also argued by a French economist, Thomas Picketty, that India needs a basic income scheme to tackle the problems related to lockdown.
India has a large population. There are many citizens who do not require a basic income to support their livelihood or to improve their condition of living. It would be extra-burden of the government to prove the basic income unconditionally to every citizen of India. Though “unconditional grant” is one of the pre-requisites of UBI but it has to be modelled taking into account the needs and means of the nation. Therefore, the principle of unconditionality has to be done away with. Instead at the end of every financial year while assessing the income of the individual, the Government can recover the extra amount in the form of tax from those who do not need it. Direct Taxation system is a very handy tool to decide who requires the basic income and who doesn’t. This can help in increasing the purchasing power of people resulting in the rise of aggregate demand. This can help in eradicating issues related to violence and abuse. This will act as financial aid to women and will in turn help in their empowerment. The nation is flooded with heart rending stories of teenagers who have to leave school in order to support their families financially. This is a deprivation of their right to education. The implementation of UBI can be a game changer in this regard. The idea of UBI is also cost effective.
The critics have argued that implementation can result in the decline of the workforce but Iran as a success story has proved it wrong. In 2010 the government ran a trial which was marked by a decline in poverty and no shortage of workforce. This can indeed be a one-stop solution to the agonizing issue concerning poverty and all the issues related to it. A few other countries like Kenya, Finland, Switzerland, and Brazil have successfully implemented it. The implementation of UBI is not just about bridging the gap between the rich and poor but also about tackling problems like COVID-19 pandemic which come unannounced. It will be a step towards creating an egalitarian society that our Constitution makers dreamt of and if there is a right time to implement this policy, it is now.
The critics have argued that implementation can result in the decline of the workforce but Iran as a success story has proved it wrong. In 2010 the government ran a trial which was marked by a decline in poverty and no shortage of workforce. This can indeed be a one-stop solution to the agonizing issue concerning poverty and all the issues related to it. A few other countries like Kenya, Finland, Switzerland, and Brazil have successfully implemented it. The implementation of UBI is not just about bridging the gap between the rich and poor but also about tackling problems like COVID-19 pandemic which come unannounced.