All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson Anil Sashtri on Tuesday came down heavily on the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government for a negative economic growth in the country during the last three years.
Addressing a press conference here, Sashtri alleged that Modi’s capitalist friends invested heavily in his 2014 election campaign. They were instrumental in designing, funding and executing his surreal campaigns, he said.
The Modi Government’s policy decisions and priorities are heavily skewed against the interests of the poor, farmers, labourers and inclined towards the interests of a few big business houses.
“Around 35 farmers are committing suicide every day in the country, and police have encountered farmers for the first time in the history of the country. Farmers’ suicide has grown by 209 per cent during the Modi Government,” he said and informed that while 969 farmers committed suicide in 2014, the number has increased to 2,993 in 2015.
He further alleged that the BJP has become the biggest Non-Performing Account (NPA) for the country. The economic growth has slowed down sharply, driven primarily by demonetisation, he pointed out.
“The GDP de-accelerated at 6.1 per cent between January 2017 and March 2017. The industrial production was at 5.3 per cent in February 2016 which came down to 1.9 per cent in March 2017. Only 14 per cent FDI received in core manufacturing sector. Credit growth is the lowest in 63 years. Bank credit growth at 5.3 per cent in 2016-17 is the lowest in three years. While investments of `2,20,000 crore registered in 2008, the year 2016 saw only `80,000 crore. The PSU banks are bleeding red. The country’s economy is sluggish at 4.5 per cent. The Make in India lion has failed to roar, and Ease Doing of Business had become ‘Cease of Business’,” he said.
Giving a comparative note, Shastri said the Congress-led UPA Government had electrified 1,08,280 villages in 10 years while the NDA Government has been able to provide electricity to 13,432 villages in three years. the BJP Government has renamed many schemes introduced and implemented by the Congress Governments in the past, he said.
The Rajiv Awas Yojana, the National Optical Fiber Network and Skill India have been renamed and no new scheme has introduced by the Modi Government, Shastri said.
PCC president Prasad Harichandan said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s recent direction to district Collectors to stop collection of PC (percentage) indicates that his Government was busy in collecting PC during the last 17 years. The BJD Sarakar is PC Sarakar, remarked Harichandan.