Some are against the principle of “giving money for doing nothing”. This maydisincentivise people towards work and make them lazy.
Fiscal conservatives are worried about the budgetary implications. This willrequire new taxes to be levied.
There is also a right-wing paranoia these days — the fear of the migrant hordes.
Recent Experiments
Last year, Switzerland had rejected the idea of giving citizens about $2,500 a month,but Finland, Netherlands, and the Canadian province of Ontario are planning atrial run.
Even India has seen its share of basic income experiments. As a pilot project,eight villages in Madhya Pradesh provided over 6,000 individuals anunconditional monthly payment (Rs. 150 for a child, Rs. 300 for an adult). Theresults were intriguing. Most villagers used the money on householdimprovements (latrines, walls, roofs). There was a seeming shift towardsmarkets, instead of ration shops, leading to improved nutrition, particularlyamong SC and ST households, and better school attendance and performance.There was an increase in small-scale investments (better seeds, sewingmachines, equipment repairs etc). Bonded labour decreased, along with casualwage labour, while self-employed farming and business activity increased.Financial inclusion was rapid – within 4 months of the pilot, 95.6% of theindividuals had bank accounts. Within a year, 73% of the households reported areduction in their debt. There was no evidence of any increase in spending onalcohol.
