On Tuesday, the Congress hit out at the government over the stimulus measures announced by it to support the pandemic-hit economy. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi stated that no family can spend the economic package on its daily needs and it was nothing “but another sham”. On Monday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs 1.5 lakh crore of additional credit for small and medium businesses, more funds for the healthcare sector, loans to tourism agencies and guides, and waiver of visa fee for foreign tourists as part of the package to support the economy. Rahul Gandhi reacted to the government’s stimulus package for the economy. He said, “No family can spend FM’s ‘economic package’ on their living-food-medicine-child’s school fees.” He said in a tweet in Hindi, “It is not a package, but another sham!”
FM के ‘आर्थिक पैकेज’ को कोई परिवार अपने रहने-खाने-दवा-बच्चे की स्कूल फ़ीस पर ख़र्च नहीं कर सकता।
पैकेज नहीं, एक और ढकोसला!
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 29, 2021
Also See: Arguments over Central Vista project
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also criticised the government over the package. He said that the answer to this “crisis” is to spur demand by putting money in the hands of the people, especially the poor and the lower middle classes.
Chidambaram said, “Some elementary truths: Credit guarantee is not credit. Credit is more debt. No banker will lend to a debt-ridden business.”
In a series of tweets, the former finance minister said that debt-burdened or cash-starved businesses do not want more credit, they need non-credit capital. He said, “More supply does not mean more demand (consumption). On the contrary, more demand (consumption). On the contrary, more demand (consumption) will trigger more supply.”
Also Read: Congress plans for early July-“Nationwide protest and Covid care programme”
Castigating the centre, Chidambaram argued that demand will not grow in an economy where jobs have been lost and incomes or wages have been reduced. He said, “The answer to this crisis is to put money in the hands of the people, especially the poor and lower middle classes.”
“Demand (consumption) will not grow in an economy where jobs have been lost and incomes/wages have been reduced
The answer to this crisis is to put money in the hands of the people, especially the poor and lower middle classes”
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) June 29, 2021
The comment of former Union Finance Minister has credible weight and precedence. In Brazil, where the pandemic dealt a historic blow, cash hand-outs indeed lowered the inequality. The South American country had given out so much cash directly to citizens that poverty and inequality approached national historic lows.
The grand old party of India had on Monday claimed that the measures announced by the current Finance Minister “delivered nothing but headlines”. The party further suggested that the government should take steps to spur demand to revive the economy “which continues to be in the doldrums”.
Points raised by the Congress have tremendous weights, as the lockdowns have literally smashed the informal economy and burnt it over cinders. Daily wage earners who live hand to mouth and compose the bulk of people suffering from chronic hunger along with the destitute have been left with no hopes. Numerous people who earn by selling petty daily use items and food materials on trains and buses were left without any backup. They have been left impoverished and their conditions are still no better. Around 23 crore Indians have been pushed into poverty when the centre was busy in election razzmatazz, ignoring Covid-appropriate behaviour and engaged in hubristic self-gloating. The second wave, the oxygen crisis, and the dead bodies floating in rivers have laid bare the failure of the BJP-led centre, which had battered the economy even before the arrival of the pandemic. The only thing which has changed after Covid19’s arrival is that the crawling economy has been left completely decimated. Therefore, the statements from the Congress leaders are reminder of the centre’s failure, which should be taken seriously.
