New Delhi, Mar 9 (KNN) The Economic Survey 2016-17 has been able to utilize big data for aggregating trends related to movement of people and goods in the country. These trends have contributed to key policy suggestions in themes like domestic migration, trade, economy, universal basic income etc, said Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA), Government of India.

He was speaking at the ‘CUTS Thought Leadership Lecture’ organized by Consumer Unity and Trust Society in partnership with University of Rajasthan. The use of big data in the Economic Survey has helped in break some existing myths related to internal trade and connectivity and should be utilised actively in policy making.

For instance, Dr. Subramanian shared that satellite imagery indicated almost nine million Indians migrated within India every year, indicating that migration was double than previously envisaged. On trade, India has caught up and surpassed China in terms of internal trade to GDP ratio; a significant achievement for which India is not always acknowledged. He also spoke on the role of CEA in a government set up.

The lecture was chaired by Dr. Vijay Vyas, Professor Emeritus, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and moderated by Mr. Arun Maira, President, CUTS International. Dr. Vyas appreciated the findings of Economic Survey and highlighted the need for more clarity on impact of demonetisation on growth.

Dr. Subramanian noted that it is still too early to ascertain the impact of demonetisation on the economy. The formal GDP numbers do not fully capture the impact on informal economy and some more time is needed to assess impact of demonetisation on the economy. He gave three parameters on which demonetisation can probably be measured on – the increase in number and amount of tax payers, the growth of GDP and the rapid progression of the digital economy.

Dr. Arvind Mayaram, Chairman, CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition, and former Finance Secretary of India was one of the discussant. He mentioned that the Chief Economic Adviser is in a unique ‘hot seat’ of being within the government, yet tasked with undertaking independent analysis of the economy.

The lecture was followed by an engaging discussion on several aspects covered in the Economic Survey, including Universal Basic Income (UBI). Dr. Subramanian noted that while UBI will cost close to five percent of the GDP, it needs to replace inefficient government programmes. He mentioned that critical public spending on health and education should not be replaced and electoral must push the politicians to make such programmes more efficient.

Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS International, noted that there was a need for greater debate and discussion on economic issues, in which involvement of young would be crucial. He also urged the government to release the data relied in the Economic Survey in public domain for quality independent evidence based analysis.