Varun Hari Prasad

  On 7th November 2022, the Supreme Court in a 3:2 majority judgement upheld the 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act which provides for reservation to economically weaker sections (EWS). There are intense debates going on in public platforms on the verdict with sharp views on all aspects. In this essay I share my views on the Supreme Court’s judgement. The 103rd Amendment The 103rd Amendment to the Constitution reads as follows: “ In article 15 of the Constitution, after clause (5), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:— ‘(6) Nothing in this article or sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 or clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making,— (a) any special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens other than the classes mentioned in clauses (4) and (5); and (b) any special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens other than the classes mentioned in clauses (4) and (5) in so far as s...

The Union Budget for the financial year 2022-2023 will be presented in 3 days from now. Last year, the Finance Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman said the Government would present a Budget “which is like never before”. It is pertinent to recall here that the present Finance Minister holds the distinction of presiding over the first recession in 40 years! In this blog I wish to lay out a brief overview of the economy and few aspects which I believe should be the focus of the Budget for 2022-23: Economic Overview 2021-22 The first Advanced Estimate of National Income for the financial year 2021-22 was released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on 7 th January. For a few hours, I was dazzled by one aspect of the Press Release – that estimated GDP growth for 2021-22 (at constant prices) is 9.2% against the contraction of -7.3% in 2020-21. This means, our economy will overcome the decline of the previous year and grow by about 1.9%. The World Bank has projected a GDP of 8.3%. Anyone...