Congress leader and former party chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that there is an immediate need to focus on demand creation as it is vital for restarting the economy which is bearing the brunt of the coronavirus crisis.
“The economy’s engine needs to be primed,” he said during the press conference on Saturday noon which saw participation from professionals from regional media across the country.
“If demand is not generated, the country will suffer bigger losses economically than from coronavirus,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi’s comments came during his interaction with the members of the regional electronic media. He went on to take questions and suggestions from them.
The Congress MP also reacted to Centre’s Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package and said that he has a “reservation” against the economic plan. He urged the Centre to rethink the package so as to provide immediate money to the needy, the farmers and the migrant labourers.
Gandhi also said that the nationwide coronavirus lockdown will need to be lifted in an intelligent manner and carefully to ensure that the vulnerable people are not affected.
{{/usCountry}}Gandhi also said that the nationwide coronavirus lockdown will need to be lifted in an intelligent manner and carefully to ensure that the vulnerable people are not affected.
{{/usCountry}}“We need to take care of the vulnerable people. The elderly people, those suffering from diabetes, hypertension, kidney diseases, et cetera. They must be taken care of,” he said.
“Lockdown is not an ‘on-off’ switch, it should be lifted intelligently, carefully,” Gandhi said.
Prior to today’s press conference and interaction with members of regional electronic media, Gandhi had led online interactive sessions with intellectuals like former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan and Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee.