Updated: October 13, 2020 8:53:30 pm
Chidambaram said the bottom half of families in India were again left in the cold.
Calling the Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman stimulus package to boost consumer demand Another “cunning attempt to dazzle people with exaggerated numbers,” veteran congressional leader P Chidambaram said Tuesday, reminding him of the Hindi proverb “khooda pahaad nikla chuha“. At a press conference, Chidambaram said the announcement was a “sincere confession.” than the Atmanirbhar package of Rs 20 lakh crore it was a “massive failure”.
“The big announcement was not a stimulus package to boost economic growth, it was another canny attempt to dazzle people with exaggerated numbers and make them believe that government is practical and responsive to the needs of the people and the economy,” he said the former finance minister.
Sitharaman announced on Monday two sets of measures to generate consumer demand and boost capital spending, which together with private sector involvement, are estimated to result in rapid spending of more than Rs 1 lakh crore by the end of March.
Read also | Measures to boost consumption: offer to put money in hand and then tie it too
“The stimulus is not worth 73 billion rupees. It is also not worth Rs 1,00,000 crore, another number that they have thrown at us. Analysts estimate that the fiscal impact of these announcements is just 0.1 percent of GDP, ”Chidambaram said.
Commenting on the License Travel Grant (LTC) voucher program and the festival preview, Chidambaram said the Center was trying to play the role of “ma-baap” by telling government officials what amount and on what goods and when they should spend their own money.
“Just as BJP has been telling people what to eat, what to wear, what language to speak, who to love, who to marry, etc., now it is trying to control people over their spending preferences. This is another piece of retrograde interference in people’s lives, ”he said.
The ministry has decided to allow government and private sector employees to use their License Travel Grant tax-free benefit for various types of purchases subject to certain conditions, while an interest-free festival advance of Rs 10,000 is given to government employees.
“The interest-free festival advance of Rs 10 billion is not an additional expense. It will be recovered in 10 monthly installments. It’s like buying in equivalent monthly installments, that’s EMI. Furthermore, the offer of a tax concession to 35 lakh of central government employees in LTC is a pathetic attempt to induce them to spend twice that amount of their own money for a small tax benefit, “he said.
Chidambaram, without saying a word when attacking the Center, said the bottom half of the families in India were again left in the cold.
“The government stubbornly refuses to transfer cash to its accounts as recommended by dozens of economists and as demanded by Congress and other political parties. I am sure you are observing the regrettable efforts of the government to reactivate the economy, which will register a decrease of 10 percent in 2020-21, ”said Chidambaram.
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