India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, MAY 28—The Welfare Party of India (WPI) has demanded introduction of ‘Covid Pandemic Cess’ on super rich to raise sufficient revenue to kickstart the economy and generate revenue to fight the corona virus pandemic under the present economic crises.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narednra Modi two days ago, WPI national president Dr. SQR Ilyas advised to impose one time ‘Covid Pandemic Cess’ on the super rich to help kickstart the economy and put it on the track that has suffered badly owing to lockdown to check the spread of the pandemic.
Dr. Ilyas said that many economists had pointed to the gravity of the situation and opined that the corona virus pandemic in India might be the “greatest emergency since Independence” and cautioned that “India should prepare itself for a negative growth rate in financial year 2021”.
“India’s GDP is steadily declining, signalling a deep recession, unemployment rose further during the lockdown, an estimated 14 crore people lost their job, more than 45 per cent of households across have reported a drop in the income, up to 53 per cent of businesses are projected to have been significantly affected adversely, a large number of farmers are facing uncertainty and various businesses are cutting salaries and laying off their employees”, said the letter.
Stating that about 20 crore people are employed in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the government has promised loans to these enterprises, he asked how would the situation improve without demand as people had lost their purchasing capacity with no money in their pockets.
Dr. Ilyas advised the PM to look for possible sources to increase the revenue and give up the wasteful and non-essential expenditure.
