Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday said the government should acknowledge what he alleged is a "deepening economic crisis" in the country, pointing out that the telecom and aviation sectors require its intervention.
He said the two sectors are struggling and may cost thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
"When will the BJP government acknowledge the gravity of the deepening economic crisis in the country? When will the Prime Minister acknowledge his failure and the failure of his economic managers," Chidambaram asked on Twitter.
"Will the government realize that one of our major telecom companies is on the verge of collapse and the government has no plan to save the struggling telecom industry," he asked in a tweet in Hindi.
The former finance minister also asked if the government realizes that the aviation industry has suffered massive losses and claimed that "each one of them will go the Air India way" unless the government steps in with a rescue plan.
"Millions have lost their jobs or livelihood in the last 12 months. The collapse of two major industries — telecom and aviation — will cost many more thousand direct and indirect jobs," he said.
Chidambaram has been critical of the government's handling of the economy, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.