India is being pushed towards financial emergency: Congress

New Delhi: Keeping up the pressure on the Modi government over the economic slump, the Congress on Thursday alleged that the country was being pushed towards a “financial emergency” and farmers, the middle class and youths were bearing the brunt of the bad policies of the government.

Citing data, the party said, “40 crore Indians are being pushed below the poverty line as per the ILO Report and 80 lakh people were forced to withdraw Rs 30,000 crore” from their EPFO accounts. Between April to July 2020, two crore salaried people lost their jobs. In the unorganised sector, 10 crore jobs were lost during the lockdown (CMIE).”

Addressing a press conference, Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “The economy stands destroyed as GDP has been razed and mowed down and demonetisation-GST-lockdown were not master strokes but were disaster strokes.”

The Congress alleged that the Modi government has plundered the economy in the last six years by its ‘acts of frauds’. The government now describes its criminal ineptitude and culpable incompetence as an ‘act of God’. “Sadly, this is the only government in the past 73 years, which blames ‘God’ for its own frauds and bluster,” said Surjewala.

Surjewala alleged, “The government is drunk with arrogance in annihilating India’s economy, enterprise of the industry, toiling labour of the farmers and aspirations of the youth with the sole objective to remain in power at any cost and at all costs”.

The party alleged that the reduction of GDP in the first quarter of FY 2021 (a first since Independence) will have a diabolical impact on the average income of every Indian, and experts give an example of per capita income of Rs 1,35,050 in the year 2019-20. Juxtapose it with the falling GDP of -24 per cent in the first Quarter (April to July) of 2020-21. The second quarter (July to September) will be even worse. If GDP for the full year 2020-21 was to fall to -11 per cent, it would lead to a reduction of at least Rs 14,900 in the income of every Indian.

On one side, inflation is hitting the common man and on the other, unprecedented surges in taxes and an economy in free fall has broken the back of the people.

“Today, India suffers from a ‘confidence deficit’ in the Modi Government. Ask the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and they will tell you that neither do the banks extend loans or financial assistance nor does the word of the Finance Minister have any meaning. On the other hand, banks have no faith in the government and the government has no faith in the RBI. States have no faith in the Central government. An atmosphere of distrust is all prevailing,” said Surjewala.

The party also cited the NCRB data and said 14,019 unemployed people committed suicide in 2019, i.e. 38 unemployed people were driven to suicide every day. 42,480 farmers and farm labourers were also forced to commit suicide in 2019. This would mean that 116 farmers and farm Labourers committed suicide every day.