India’s national priorities are best served domestically

Source: The post is based on an article “India’s national priorities are best served domestically” published in The Business Standard on 29^th September 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2

Relevance: domestic challenges in India

News:  India has been involving greatly into international summits and meetings. But it does not serve much of India’s interest and there is need for India to change its priorities.

Why do international meetings do not serve the nation’s interest?

A lot of time spent on the international meetings and the cost of time spent is not at par with the returns.

For example, The Indian PM called for better supply chains and full transit rights at this SCO summit but Pakistan won’t allow surface transit rights to India via its territory.

China blocked a joint move by India and the US to blacklist the Laskhar-e-Taiba militant Sajid Mir under the 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.

Further India is also going to head the G20 presidency.

But due the declining relations with China and Pakistan it is doubtful whether the heads of Pak and China will attend the meeting in India.

Therefore, India should focus more on resolving domestic challenges.

What are the domestic issues in India?

Unequal growth: The southern states are growing faster than those in the north. This may lead to serious disputes between India’s southern and northern states over the sharing of centrally-raised revenues.

Delimitation of constituencies: The delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies was last done on the basis of the 2001 census and is due for a review in 2026.

SC cases: Supreme Court is struggling with issues which may be resolved by ruling political parties at the Centre and the states.

For example, issues such as places of religious worship, quotas in government jobs for the economically weaker sections, etc.

Electricity: The state electricity corporations are also suffering with distribution losses by the high levels of subsidies provided in several states.

According to the Reserve Bank of India’s July 2022 report, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand are fiscally vulnerable. Another issue is the range of non-merit subsidies such as fertilizer subsidies.

What can be the course of action?

First, all such subsidies can be withdrawn and may be distributed as universal basic income.

Second, the repeated extensions and appointments of officials by the central government need course of correction.

Third, the central government needs to discuss the disputable issues with the state governments like it did for GST.

Therefore, India should try to resolve domestic challenges first rather than indulging in international meetings.