New Delhi: Expressing deep concern over “all-round mismanagement” of the economy, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday urged the government to set aside “vendetta politics” to steer the country out of this “man-made crisis”.
In a video statement, Dr Singh said that the five per cent GDP growth and the fact that the manufacturing sector was “tottering at 0.6 per cent” showed that India was in the midst of a prolonged economic slowdown.
“This makes it very clear that our economy has not yet recovered from the man-made blunders of demonetisation and a hastily implemented GST,” he said.
The former PM’s comments came barely two days after government data revealed that the country had witnessed the slowest growth pace in past more than six years.
Dr Singh said that domestic demand was depressed and consumption growth was at an 18-month low while the nominal GDP growth is at a 15-year low. “There is a gaping hole in tax revenues. Tax buoyancy remains elusive as businessmen small and big are hounded and tax terrorism continues unabated. Investor sentiment is in the doldrums. These are not the foundations for economic recovery,” he said.
India’s GDP growth was 5 per cent in the first quarter of FY20 vis-a-vis 5.8 per cent in the previous quarter.
The growth in the quarter ended June 30 last year stood at 8.0 per cent.
Dr Singh also blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies claiming they led to “massive jobless growth” with over 3.5 lakh jobs being lost in the automobile sector alone. He also stressed on farmers not getting adequate prices and that the rural incomes have declined. “The low inflation rate that Modi government likes to showcase comes at the cost of our farmers and their income by inflicting misery on over 50 per cent of India’s population”.
“India cannot afford to continue down this path. Therefore, I urge the government to put aside vendetta politics, and reach out to all sane voices and thinking minds, to steer our economy out of this man-made crisis,” he said.
The senior Congress leader, who has been elected again to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan, said India has the potential to grow at a much faster rate.
