New Delhi: The Congress tore into the govt within the Rajya Sabha today for presenting a “disappointing” budget, with former minister of finance P Chidambaram describing it as a “budget for the rich, of the rich and by the rich” that’s meant for less than “one per cent of India’s population that controls 73 per cent of the country’s wealth”.
Outrightly rejecting the allow 2021-22, the senior Congress leader also lashed out at the ruling dispensation, charging it with “incompetent economic management”.
Participating during a debate on the budget, Mr Chidambaram claimed, “The sub-text is, this is often a allow the rich, of the rich and by the rich…. there’s nothing for the poor people of India, who still suffer…. this is often a allow those one per cent who control 73 per cent of India’s wealth.”
He said the govt is in denial about the slowdown within the economy and believed that the matter within the economy is cyclical and not structural.
“Two years of slowdown before the coronavirus may be a reality,” he said.
Mr Chidambaram alleged that the country has witnessed three years of “incompetent economic mismanagement”.
“The honourable minister of finance took exception to my using the word incompetent. I cannot use a harsher word in Parliament. i’m using the mildest word available to me. Three years of incompetent economic mismanagement means at the top of 2020-21, we’ll be exactly where we were in 2017-18,” he said.
Mr Chidambaram claimed there’s no demand in most parts of the country, including in developed states like Tamil Nadu , and added that it had been left to one’s imagination how backward states like Uttar Pradesh , Bihar and Odisha must be coping.
“You have ignored the majority of India. Who is that this budget for?” he asked, while saying that the incompetent management will undo the expansion achieved and therefore the borrowings will only be wont to fill the large craters within the economy.
“Mark my words, the expansion projections will come short by the top of 2021,” the previous minister of finance asserted.
He said the govt projected a 14.8-per cent GDP rate of growth then said it’ll grow by 11 per cent.
“Inflation next year are going to be a minimum of five or six per cent…. The arithmetic I even have says your growth will only be 9.4 or 8.4…which may be a natural and mechanical growth after the coronavirus-induced slowdown. don’t boast about the numbers. it’ll take you two-three years to urge to a stable GDP. Take the recommendation of well-meaning critics, address the structural issue of the economy and support the poor. don’t go boasting about these numbers,” Mr Chidambaram said.
Asking the govt to withdraw the budget, he said major numbers are suspect during this year’s budget.
The total additional cost is ₹ 51,000 crore, he acknowledged and asked, “Where did the remainder of the cash go?”
