Inflation Unchecked Since Modi Became PM, Life of Most Indians Affected in 2020: Key Takeaways From IANS-CVoter Pre-Budget Survey

The survey reflects the growing worries on the economic front in a pandemic-hit year, on the eve of the Union Budget on Monday.

Budget 2021: The Modi government in 2020 is faring as the worst on the economic front since it came to power in 2014, according to an IANS-CVoter pre-budget survey.

As many as 46.4 per cent said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the performance of the Central government on the economic front so far has been worse than expected. A lesser number of 31.7 per cent said the performance is better than expected.

This is the worst score for any government since 2010, except in 2013 when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister and P Chidambaram was Finance Minister. In 2013, 60 per cent respondents said the delivery on the economic front was worse than expected.

The pandemic has severely impacted the economy and experts have recommended that the government should come up with measures to put in more money in the hands of the people to boost demand and support the economy.

The sample size of the poll is 4,000 plus and the fieldwork for the survey was done in third-fourth week of January 2021. The theme of the survey is “Expectations from the Union Budget”.

Over 72% say inflation has been unchecked since Modi became PM

Almost three-fourth respondents feel that after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, inflation has been unchecked and prices have gone up, as per the IANS-CVoter Budget Tracker.

At 72.1, this is the highest percentage in PM Modi’s tenure who feel this way compared to a low of 17.1 per cent in 2015.

In 2020, only 10.8 per cent of the respondents said that prices have gone down while 12.8 per cent said nothing has changed.

The sample size of the poll is 4,000 plus and the fieldwork for the survey was done in third-fourth week of January 2021. The theme of the survey is “Expectations from the Union Budget”.

To a question in the survey, 72.1 per cent respondents said after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, inflation has been unchecked and prices have gone up. This is the worst score for the Modi government on the inflation front since 2015.

Inflation affected life of most Indians in 2020

Over 70 per cent people have felt the impact of high commodity prices in the past one year, according to an IANS-CVoter pre-budget survey.

The survey showed that 38.2 per cent of respondents said that their quality of life has been “too much” adversely affected due to inflation in the past one year, and 34.9 per cent said that the there was “little bit” of impact.

However, 26.7 per cent people did not feel any impact of high inflation at all.

For most of 2020, inflation remained at elevated levels, on the back of high food and fuel prices.

Most Indians feel common man’s quality of life deteriorated in past year

As the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy and people’s livelihood, the survey has shown that nearly 50 per cent Indians feel that the quality of life of a common man has deteriorated in the past one year.

Around 48.4 per cent of the respondents feel the common man’s quality of life has “deteriorated” and 21.3 per cent felt that it has remained the same.

However on the other hand, 28.8 per cent respondents said that the quality of life has, in fact, improved during the pandemic-hit past one year.

Four-member family needs up to Rs 20,000 income for average quality of life

Over a majority, or 51.5 per cent, feel that an income of up to Rs 20,000 per month is required by a family of four for an average quality of life, as per the survey.

A total of 23.6 per cent respondents said that an income of Rs 20,000-30,000 per month is required for an average quality of life, while another 10 per cent feel that Rs 30,000-40,000 is required.

Another 8.6 per cent people felt the need of up to Rs 50,000-1,00,000 per month for a family of four people.

According to the survey, 81.4 per cent feel that the income required to live an average quality of life should be tax free, while 12.7 per cent of the respondents feel that it should be taxed.

Most Indians facing difficulty in managing their expenses

A majority of Indians are finding it difficult to manage their expenses, showed the IANS-CVoter pre-budget survey.

Around 65.8 per cent respondents in the survey said that current expenses have become difficult to manage, while 30 per cent people said that although expenses have gone up, they are in manageable limits.

A miniscule 2.1 per cent of the respondents said that their expenses have gone down in the past one year and another 2.1 per cent could not respond on the matter.

The survey also showed that with a massive impact of the pandemic on businesses and people’s earnings, purchasing power of most Indians weakened in the past one year.

37% people feel common man’s quality of life to improve this year

As 2020 was largely marred by the pandemic and its impact on people’s income, the IANS-CVoter survey reveals that 37.4 per cent respondents feel that the quality of life of the common man will improve in the next one year.

Another 21.7 per cent of the respondents felt that the quality of life of a common Indian will remain the same, while 25.8 per cent of the respondents said that the quality of life will deteriorate further in days ahead.

Around 15 per cent respondents said that they cannot respond on the matter.

According to the Economic Survey 2020-21, which was presented in the Parliament on Friday by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the GDP of India is likely to contract by 7.7 per cent in FY 2021.

It has also anticipated that the Indian economy would grow at over 11 per cent in the next fiscal.

(Based on IANS inputs)