MPCE data accounts for just 49 per cent of the consumption reported by GDP estimates. The destination weddings, designer clothes, fancy dining and wining, and exotic holidays probably remain Instagram posts, without finding mention in answers to pesky surveyors.
Cities in India are envisioned as engines of growth. Any meaningful long-term vision for India would be incomplete without planning for the cities and quite rightly, urbanization is considered as one of the country’s top developmental challenges.
Recorded contributions, whether via electoral bonds or plain contributions for which parties issue receipts, form only a part, probably a tiny part, of the total spending by political parties.
The Interim Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this month failed to reflect its commitment towards the development of minorities. This becomes evident through various reasons, including the discontinuation of several schemes and institutions.
India wants to be among the top 3 world economies by 2047, which is dependent on greater spending on education, health and social welfare schemes. But the Interim Budget harks back to lower allocation trends.
The increase in funds allocated for improving the quality of life in urban areas by 12 percent, as pledged in the Interim Budget, is positively received.
In 2015, the Government of India launched its Smart Cities Mission, envisioned as the lighthouse of city development. With a total of 100 cities included in its proposal, this flagship programme received budgetary support and continued to dominate urban planning discussions.