Vol. 4 No. 6 (Nov-Dec) (2023): Indian Public Policy Review

The introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India in 2017 not only impacted the economy, but also altered the contours of fiscal federalism in India. Amongst other indicators, the steady growth of GST revenue has been a robust barometer of the success of the reform. This paper delves into the trends of GST collections to evaluate the efficacy of the reform to generate revenue. Subsequently, an attempt is made to answer the questions – what drives revenue growth, and are the collections, collection efficiencies, and buoyancy of collections better under GST as compared to the pre-GST period? This is done by examining GST collections while controlling for extraneous factors, such as inflation. Further, a novel mechanism for computing the collection rate of GST, using only publicly-available data is proposed. This has potential applications in revenue modelling, in analysis of trends across time and geographies, and for policy formulation. Rationalization of tax rates, structural efficiencies, widening of the tax base, and enhanced compliance are seen to contribute to the positive outcomes observed. In order to address the paucity of disaggregated data on enforcement in the public domain, the paper uses judicial data from District Level Courts to analyse spatial dimensions of GST enforcement. Overall, it is seen that GST has delivered on multiple fronts, including revenue growth, formalization of the economy, reduced rates of taxation, and creation of a more unified market. We also observe that post-GST tax buoyancy and collection efficiencies have shown significant improvement.

The true trend in tax revenues has been obscured by pandemic-related effects, inflation, and discretionary policy changes in recent years. These hinder accurate assessment of the state of the economy, a correct picture of which can only be had by stripping out these effects. In particular, the increasing deployment of additional revenue measures in succession for several years has masked information on the economy’s health that is observed from the automatic movement of tax revenues along with the GDP. This paper focuses upon tax buoyancy, which includes discretionary policy changes, to examine how the historical relationship of tax revenues with income may have been disturbed by exceptional shocks. Using early data and other evidence, it illustrates probable impacts of non-linear and asymmetric normalisation, the extraordinary price growth and uneven distribution thereof, and fiscal policy responses in the pandemic. It further compiles additional revenue mobilization measures for a longer period from 2011-12 to highlight how newer and fresher fiscal efforts have been used to complement a stagnant or shrinking tax base and how these can be distortionary in aspects beyond the diffusion of important macroeconomic signals.

Wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance (WBE) showed the potential to become a pivotal public health tool for measuring community disease burden during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many countries used WBE as part of their national disease surveillance to inform on the optimal deployment of public health measures. In India, civil society groups, research institutions, and private companies across various urban areas also demonstrated the utility of WBE in assessing community burden. While the European Union has recently begun to craft policies for the integration of WBE into a global surveillance network, many countries (including India) do not have a national policy to enable such integration. This paper argues for a national wastewater surveillance system for India, covering community-level assessment of various public health threats, along with integration of data from urban marginalised populations, to promote health equity and facilitate OneHealth-based thinking of disease emergence and spread. The paper outlines WBE efforts around the world, highlights its advantages as a cost-effective tool to supplement rather than supplant existing frameworks, and makes a case for its implementation in India, along with recommendations for next steps towards such implementation. The effective use of WBE should help India identify areas of emerging health threats, prepare for future infectious disease outbreaks, and allocate resources according to population requirements.

The Indian government’s approach to dog population management for the last two decades – the animal birth control (ABC) program – has yielded poor results. Aside from its implementation failures, the ABC is scientifically unsuited to the scale and severity of the harms posed by free-ranging dogs. It is based on a deficient understanding of both animal behaviour and animal welfare. The Indian Supreme Court, which is hearing multiple petitions relating to the danger to human life and safety posed by India’s burgeoning population of free-ranging dogs, has issued interim orders that restrict alternative interventions such as long-term sheltering and euthanasia. While the legal dispute has meandered through the judicial system for more than a decade, the harms caused by free-ranging dogs continue unabated. Recent legislative changes, which encourage the maintenance of dogs on streets, have pushed government policy in a seemingly regressive pathway. This paper presents a critical discussion of the legal and policy position, and suggests integrated and contextual approaches for viable dog population management. 

Desmond Shum’s Red Roulette is an important book to understand the political imperatives that have shaped China’s return to ideology under Xi Jinping. Shum’s is an autobiographical account of the political economy of China, where business success is closely linked to one’s political connections and the effective management of a web of relations. While the players and the terms of discourse may evolve, the game is always the same.