Updated: September 1, 2020 8:42:08 pm
The former finance minister said Sitharaman should “thank God” who has “blessed the farmers of this country.” (Express photo by Partha Paul)
Taking a look at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her “Act of God”Commenting on the economic depression due to the Covid pandemic, Congressional Leader P Chidambaram said Tuesday that the government should not “blame God for a man-made disaster.”
Talking to NDTV, the former finance minister said Sitharaman should “thank God” who has “blessed the farmers of this country.”
“Don’t blame God. In fact, you should thank God. God has blessed the farmers of the country. The pandemic is a natural disaster. But you are aggravating the pandemic, a natural disaster, with a man-made disaster, “he told the news channel in an interview.
Chidambaram’s comments come a day after India’s It was reported that the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 23.9% in the April-June quarter, marking its entry into a recessionary phase this year.
Explained: India’s GDP Growth Shrinks 23.9%: What’s the Economics Behind the Mathematics?
Chief economic adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian said the GDP contraction is “mainly due to an exogenous shock” that has been felt globally, adding that the economy is “experiencing a V-shaped recovery” after the lockdown. relaxed.
Questioning Subramanian’s claim of a blockade of the recovery post, Chidambaram asked if “does anyone take the Chief Economic Advisor seriously?”
“I don’t know if anyone is serious about the Chief Economic Advisor. When was the last time you had a conversation with the Prime Minister? He’s been predicting a V-shaped recovery for months. Then he saw green shoots when the finance minister said so. Where are the green shoots? “, Said. NDTV.
Chidambaram called the government’s Rs 20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar package a “joke”, saying it was time to “borrow, spend, boost demand, put money in the hands of the poor to increase consumption.”
Meanwhile, Congress has attacked the Center for falling GDP, with former party chief Rahul Gandhi claiming that the “ruin” of the economy began with demonetization and that the government introduced one “wrong” policy after another.
Last week, referring to the Covid pandemic as an ‘act of God’ that will result in a contraction of the economy under the current fiscal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told a meeting of the Goods and Services Tax Council (GST) that states were presented with two options to resolve the controversial issue of compensation deficit estimated at Rs 2.35 lakh crore.
Chidambaram had then asked if “the FM as the Messenger of God” will answer how the “mismanagement” of the economy should be described before the coronavirus pandemic.
Slapping Sitharaman on the comments, the former finance minister said: “If the pandemic is an ‘act of God,’ how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20? Before the pandemic hit India?
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