Is Sonianomics An ‘Occult’ Form Of Economics?

Instead of economics, are Congress president Sonia Gandhi‘s pet welfare schemes drawn from the occult?

In an Indian Express column that evaluates 15 years of Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, Chairman of Oxus Investments Surjit S Bhalla says that the Congress chief’s economic policies, which were aimed at helping the poor, but ended up hurting them the most, defy “pure reason” and dubs them “occult economics”.

Her policies have their origin in the creation of the Congress in 1885 by the Theosophical Society, an occultist movement, he says.

“Sonia UPA’s alchemy raised procurement prices of food grains beyond reason, helped a few rich farmers (say 20 million) and massively hurt ten times as many landless agricultural workers. And by generating super-inflation for four years, transformed the Indian economy beyond recognition,” says Bhalla.

Bhalla also analyses the economics of MGNREGA, a UPA pet scheme aimed at giving employment to the rural poor.

According to Bhalla, as per the NSS data of 2009-10, of the Rs 1,70,000 crore spent on MGNREGA, only a fifth reached the intended beneficiaries. In other words, about Rs 1,40,000 crore went to the non-poor. The scheme has helped nothing but corruption, says Bhalla.

Another example of ‘occult economics’ is the 2013-14 budget, in which the government aims at 13 percent GDP growth and 16 percent expenditure growth, which is to be financed with a 19 percent growth in tax revenue.

A third example of this brand of economics is the Food Security Bill, which is slated to be presented in the current Budget session of Parliament. The bill seeks to provide subsidised food grains to 67 percent of the country’s population.

According to a recent report in The Hindu, the bill would burden the government with a subsidy bill of about Rs 1.35 lakh crore.

Such economic policies have already halved the GDP growth, doubled inflation, depreciated the rupee by 20 percent and widened the current account deficit to 6.7 percent of GDP.

For the country to come out of the economic rot, Sonia has to change her occult spots by resorting to economic reforms, the Bhalla says. Otherwise, the Congress—and with it the country—will perish.