Economic Survey 2019: Modi govt invokes Bible, Quran and Hindu scriptures to urge people to repay their loan

Modi government is known to use religion as a tool to achieve political goals but its usage of religion as a means to achieve economic goal is something new.

Political commentators, journalists and even some in BJP were taken aback when they found Economic Survey-2019 using verses from Bible, Quran and Hindu scriptures to urge people to repay their loans.

Written by Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian and tabled by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday in Parliament, Economic Survey -2019, termed religious verses as “doctrine of pious obligation”.

The second chapter of the Economic Survey, titled “Policy for Homo Sapiens, not 02 Homo Economics: Leveraging the behavioral economics of nudge” deals with loan/debt saying: “In Hinduism, non-payment of debts is a sin and also a crime.”

Box item no -5 of the same chapter notes, “The scriptures ordain that of a person’s debt are not paid and he dies in the stat of indebtedness, his soul may have to face evil consequences.”

Citing Islam, it says, “A person cannot enter Paradise until his debt was paid off.” Invoking Prophet Muhammad, the Economic Survey versed, “Allahumma inni a’oodhu bika min al-ma’tham wa’l-maghram (O Allah I seek refuge with sin and heavy debt)”.

Similarly quoting Bible, it adds, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another”.

“Thus, the repayment of debt one’s life is prescribed as necessary by scriptures across religions”.

Commenting on Economic Survey, a senior journalist quipped, “By using scriptures to promote repayment of loan, Modi government has inadvertently accepted what experts, Congress and other opposition parties have been saying for long…mounting NPA has broken the backbone of banking system. However, it remains to see whether Modi’s Mehul Bhai and Mallya repay their debt or not. Or else, Sakshi Maharaj will curse them also.”

BJP MP from Uannao, Sakshi Maharaj had notoriously threatened voters in his constituency to either vote for him or face his curse during a campaign for recently held Lok Sabha elections.