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Don’t act as moneylender, give cash aid, says Rahul Gandhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the 20 lakh crore economic package to help individuals and businesses deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown enforced to combat its spread.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the government should not be a “sahukar [money lender]” and argued in favour of cash assistance instead of loans to tide over the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis while warning of an impending economic crisis.
“When a child is hurt, the mother does not offer a loan. As a citizen, my disappointment is the [Rs 20 lakh crore] package should not be of loans but for giving money in hands. The government should not be a sahukar,” said Gandhi while interacting with journalists from the regional media via videoconferencing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the 20 lakh crore economic package to help individuals and businesses deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown enforced to combat its spread. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has been providing details of the scheme, on Thursday announced assistance involving free food grains, cheaper loans, and affordable housings as part of the package.
Gandhi asked the government to consider rolling out the Nyuntam Aay Yojana, or Nyay, which the Congress had proposed as a social welfare programme in its 2019 national election manifesto. Under the scheme, the Congress had proposed to distribute Rs 72,000 cash annually among 20% of India’s poorest, or 250 million people.
Gandhi said the scheme should be implemented temporarily in urban areas while the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) must be strengthened in the rural areas.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government introduced the MGNREGS in 2006 to provide 100 days of work annually to at least one member of every rural household. The demand for work under the MGNREGS has surged as hundreds of thousands of migrant workers left jobless by the Covid-19 lockdown have returned from big cities to their homes since late March.
Gandhi said he has heard the government was not giving the money because it wants to retain ratings. “Our ratings are made by our farmers, our workers and businessmen. When people will start working, India’s ratings will improve,” he said as he warned the government of an impending economic storm.
Gandhi said the most important thing now is to “fire demand and supply”. He added while infrastructure is certainly the key, the government must give money in the hands of the poor. “If you want to start an engine, you have put fuel in the carburettor. The fuel is cash. We must have a national strategy for income. We cannot sacrifice our economy...,” Gandhi said. He said in a short time, small and medium businesses, farmers, migrant labourers and people in the high-risk category need to be protected.
Gandhi refused to compare the 1991 economic crisis when the Congress government ushered in the economic reforms with the current situation. He refused to indulge in a political blame game with the government and said his party will apply pressure “pyaar se [with love]” on the government to accept its proposals.
Gandhi cited the steps taken by the Congress-ruled states to help the poor and migrant workers. He did not hesitate in contrasting their responses with those where the Congress is part of coalition governments. “There is a difference between Congress and an alliance government. If you look at the Congress-ruled states like Chhattisgarh, you will see a very aggressive strategy. But in an alliance, we try to put pressure through conversations,” he said when asked about the lack of services allegedly offered by Maharashtra for migrant workers.
Senior BJP leader and MP Rakesh Sinha said: “Rahul Gandhi speaks like a feudal lord and he considers the government of the day as his fief. This government has been doing everything, taking into account two major aspects – making India an economic superpower and performing on the principle of catch-up. Secondly, another paradigm of government policy and program has been strengthening the economic foundation of the marginalized people of the country who form the majority. Therefore, Rahul Gandhi’s observation shows his lack of understanding of a dynamic government and its dynamic leader”.
