In what the government could view as a searing critique of the budget, one of India’s most renowned economic commentators has called the budget “nondescript” adding “it’s not what the country needed”.

Speaking specifically and at length about measures announced by the budget to increase employment, Professor Pronab Sen said they will “only scratch the surface – barely”.

In a 50-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Sen, at present the Country Director of the International Growth Centre and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Statistics and a former Chief Statistician, said neither the government’s contribution of Rs. 3,000 a month per person for two years to the employers EPFO payments nor the internship scheme are likely to lead to additional people being taken on either as full time employees or as interns.

However, Sen pointed out that there are steps the Finance Minister could have taken which could have, possibly substantially, increased formal employment but, he added, they probably did not even occur to her.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.