‘Farmers in grief, Industry in distress and Modi govt in celebration mood’
Andalib Akhter / New Delhi
Congress party today slammed Narendra Modi government at centre for celebrating two year in the office with so much fanfare. It said that they were rejoicing the power despite distress in agriculture and industry and disappointment among youths and common man.
Such is the situation that NDA’s critical ally Shivsena is not participating in the celebrations in protest, the principal opposition party spokesman and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram pointed out at a press conference here today.
“BJP is celebrating 2 yrs of the Government. I say BJP, because their partner in Government, Shiv Sena hasn’t joined the celebrations. In fact, Shiv Sena has been critical of the Modi Sarkar. Far more tellingly, there is no participation of people in these so-called celebrations,” Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram said, “There is good reason why mood of the people is sombre & sullen. It is because of the economy. Helped by low fuel prices, CPI came down from 6.7% in June 2014 to 3.5% in July 2015. It has since increased to 5.4% in Apr 2016. It is not clear if the Government and RBI have a clear and agreed upon strategy on controlling inflation.”
“Where are the jobs? The most notable failure of the Modi Government has been in job creation. The ferment in universities can be partly attributed to the bleak future faced by university graduates. There are millions of young people who will complete 8-10 yrs of school education. Where is the skilling for them? Where are the jobs for them?” asked Chidambaram.
“After sliding back on fiscal consolidation. Government has affirmed its commitment to achieving 3% fiscal deficit in 2017-18.There are questions about methods to achieve this. Ambitious revenue targets have been set & off balance sheet borrowings are planned to meet these targets” former finance minister highlighted
He said that Government’s record in agriculture has been dismal. Growth was negative in 2014-15 & a meagre 1.1% in 2015-16. They failed to anticipate & tackle the rural distress in India. No less than the Supreme Court chastised the Center in the strongest terms for negligence in managing the consequences of drought & passing the buck in providing drought relief.”
, “Annual sales growth of all firms in 2015-16 was negative at 5.7%. For manufacturing firms it was -11.2%. This is reflected in credit growth, which is at a 20 year low of 9.9%. This is also seen in the slump of merchandise exports, which was -15%. Chidambaram stressed.
“There is little cheer in the GDP numbers. There is a growing dichotomy between GDP number & other indicators. If calculated under the methodology of the old series, the number would be 5% not 7.6%. The average citizen needs jobs & income. They cannot consume GDP numbers,” he informed.
At a press conference, Communication in Charge, Randeep Surjewala and P Chidambaram also released a Booklet ‘Two Years of Failed Promises & Lies of Modi Government.’