COUNTRY’S ECONOMY IN DEEP CRISIS: VINOD VERMA

13-JUNE-ENG 9

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-----------------------------The country's economy is going through a deep crisis, and this crisis is clearly visible not only in the figures but also on the ground. Social activist and advocate Vinod Verma directly targeted the central government and alleged that India's economy has faltered badly today due to fake notes, increasing foreign debt, privatization policies and increasing inequality.

Verma said that 37% of the Rs 500 notes in the country are fake and these notes are openly circulating in the market without any check. This proves that a large network of fake notes is active in the country, which cannot possibly flourish without the protection of those in power. He also said that now even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has accepted it, which shows an extremely serious and worrying situation.

Vinod Verma further said that India's economy is already burdened with a heavy burden of foreign debt. While the foreign debt was US $ 446 billion in 2014, it has increased to 7.11 trillion dollars in 2025. This information was given by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in response to a question asked in the Lok Sabha on March 24, 2025.

He said that the government has to pay about US $ 27 billion every year, which is directly affecting the development work and policy plans of the country.

Verma also raised questions on NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subramaniam declaring India as the fourth largest economy in the world, leaving behind Japan. He said that "If India has really become the fourth largest economy, then why is the condition of the common people of villages and towns so bad? Where is this money going?"

Presenting a dangerous picture of inequality in India, Verma said that only 0.1% of the country's rich have 39.5% of the wealth, while half the population has only 6.5% of the wealth. He also said that the country's per capita income is 12 times less than Japan and India ranks 140th in terms of per capita wealth.

He made serious allegations against the central government and said that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has written off Rs 16.35 lakh crore of corporate houses in the last 10 years, while the common man is struggling with inflation, unemployment, and poor education and health.

Vinod Verma also cornered the government on India's GDP growth rate. He said that in 2004, India's GDP was 709 billion dollars, which increased to 2.04 trillion dollars by 2014 - that is, an increase of 188%. But from 2014 to 2024, GDP reached only 3.5 to 3.7 trillion dollars – a mere 5.8% growth, which is less than double compared to before.

He claims that if the Modi government had been able to increase GDP at the same rate as in 2004, India's GDP would have been 6.4 trillion dollars by 2025 and India would have become the third largest economy.

Verma said that the government's policies are pushing the country towards privatization, due to which public sector industries are getting weakened. He emphasized that India will have to create new employment opportunities and adopt a policy of big investment in the agricultural sector, only then can India become an economic superpower in the true sense.

Verma said that today the people of the country are struggling with basic problems like inflation, unemployment, education, health, and corruption. People are having to run from pillar to post for basic amenities, but despite this, the government is misleading the public with populist slogans.