How free basics can help India grow rich

While India Debates The Merits Of Free Basic Facilities, It Turns Out That Rich Countries Like Germany Have Provided And Benefi tted From Free Education And Healthcare For Years. Atul Thakur Takes Stock Of The Direction The Welfare Question Is Taking Globally

Germany’s Bismarckian pension model of 1889 arose to help the landless workers migrating to cities amid rapid industrialisation. America’s social security system was implemented in the aftermath of the Great Depression. The transfer of cash not only provided relief to the people but also kick-started demand in a struggling economy.

Yet, almost 90 years later India is questioning welfare schemes at a time when the debate abroad has moved up a level to ‘universal basic income’ (UBI). UBI proponents are a disparate bunch, ranging from French economist Thomas Piketty to social media mogul Mark Zuckerberg and the world’s richest person Elon Musk.

While their motivations differ – the leftists want UBI to correct growing income equality, the pro-market lot to sustain the level of consumption – there is a growing global consensus about the redistribution of wealth. In fact, countries like South Korea, Finland and Canada have recently made some UBI experiments.