TMS Ep338: Demonetisation verdict, free food grain, markets, living wage

Over six years after the government demonetised 86% of cash in circulation in one go by declaring notes of Rs 500 and 1000 illegal, the Supreme Court on Monday nixed petitions challenging the move and upheld its legality. So what did the apex court actually say in its verdict? And what does it mean? 

If note ban put millions in the bank queues, pandemic forced many more to line up at railway stations and bus terminals. With jobs gone, they had no option but to return home. Struggle to feed their families followed. It was then that the government had launched Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana to provide free food grain. And after about two years, the scheme has now been scrapped. But the government has made PDS free for one year. So what will be its impact? Will it anyway affect the government’s fiscal planning? 

Moving on to markets, raw material prices are steadily continuing their downward journey while a firm pick-up in credit cycle has also boosted overall sentiment. Will these positive factors provide succour to India Inc.’s fortunes in the third quarter earnings of FY23? 

Inflation played a spoilsport for several sectors last year, and pulled down their stock prices too. Consumers also felt the heat. Those at the bottom of the wealth pyramid were the worst hit. And it is one of the reasons that the government is now mulling shifting to ‘living wage’ from the existing ‘minimum wage’. The living wage is indexed to inflation. And, if implemented, it will give a big respite to those living on the margins. But what exactly is a ‘living wage’? We decode it for you in this segment of the podcast.