New Delhi: The Congress said Monday the fiscal stimulus package announced by the government is ‘hopelessly inadequate’. The Congress pointed out that given the gravity of the economic crisis as the fiscal package amounts to only Rs 1.86 lakh crore. It is only 0.91 per cent of the GDP and not 10 per cent as proclaimed by the Centre. The party sought a revised and comprehensive package of 10 per cent of the GDP.
‘Totally inadequate’
Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the stimulus package has left several sections high and dry. Among them are the poor, migrants, farmers, labourers, workers, small shopkeepers and middle class.
“In our view, a fiscal stimulus of Rs 1,86,650 crore amounting to barely 0.91 per cent of GDP is totally inadequate. Given the gravity of the economic crisis it will put people in dire straits,” Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram said most analysts, rating agencies and banks have placed the size of the fiscal stimulus between 0.8 to 1.5 per cent.
Sunday, former Union Minister and Congress leader Anand Sharma accused the government of misleading people with its ‘trickery, fakery, quackery’. He said the measures announced by the Centre amounted to only 1.6 per cent of India’s GDP. The total valuation of which is Rs 3.22 lakh crore and not Rs 20 lakh crore as the prime minister claimed.
Reconsider stimulus package
“We express our thorough disappointment and request the government to reconsider the stimulus package. It should announce a revised and comprehensive fiscal stimulus package of not less than Rs 10 lakh crore,” Chidambaram said. He was talking to the media through video-conferencing.
Government opportunistic
Chidambaram also accused the government of being opportunistic by pushing reforms. “It is bypassing stakeholder consultation, legislation and discussion in Parliament on the package. This will be strongly resisted and challenged in the House,” said the former finance minister.
Chidambaram added, “I think the government is deliberately sidelining Parliament. The importance of the stimulus package should have been discussed during a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee.
Can’t fool people
“If there is a genuine reform that takes economy forward, we will support it but we will have to read the fine print. The government is being opportunistic. They are just announcing what one person or one group of persons think is right without thinking about the consequences. Editorials and articles today point out downside of some of the announcements. You can’t fool all the people all the time. This fiscal stimulus package is inadequate,” Chidambaram further said.
Chidambaram said the self-employed, have no work. According to the Congress seven crore shopkeepers and lower middle class families have run out of cash and are forced to borrow. The package also does not include 5.8 crore MSMEs .
PTI