Spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee, Wing Commander Anuma Acharya, today addressed a press conference at the State Congress Headquarters, Ranchi. JPCC President Rajesh Thakur, Working President Bandhu Tirkey, State Spokesperson Rakesh Sinha, Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, Dr. M Tauseef, Dr. Rakesh Kiran Mahto were present on this occasion.
Acharya said that the Modi government's wrong economic policies are responsible for inflation and unemployment in India. “There was a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had shown the dream of a future free from inflation and unemployment to the people of India. In contrast, today they have put people in a dire situation of record-breaking price increases and the most unemployment in 45 years,” she said.
“After coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Modi not only failed to control inflation but his wrong policies and deceit have actually added to the suffering of the people,” she said.
Acharya said that the Prime Minister had conceded to the voters in 2019 that essential items like food grains, Dahi, Lassi and Buttermilk were kept out of the purview of GST, but in 2022, he imposed GST on the same items. He did a lot of campaigning for the Ujjwala scheme to get votes from the people in the 2019 elections, but immediately after the elections, he showed insensitivity and abolished the subsidy on cooking gas. LPG prices have more than doubled to Rs 1,053.12 per cylinder and crores of consumers are not in a position to refill their empty gas cylinders today. These are just two examples out of all the cases where the Prime Minister betrayed the people of India to get them votes and then stabbed them in the back, she said.
“The Modi government's desperation to fill its coffers at all costs has prompted it to impose an unprecedented fuel tax, further hurting the purchasing power of Indian consumers. The global prices of Petrol, Diesel and LPG were much higher in 2013.14 as compared to 2021.22 but the consumer today is paying far more for one liter of fuel or LPG cylinder as compared to the UPA regime,” said Acharya.
“The directionless policies of the Modi government have brought the unemployment situation to a disastrous turn. Demonetisation and the hastily implemented GST tax system had already dealt a severe blow to the economy, on top of all this the Modi government is shutting down PSUs, privatizing them and transferring valuable national assets to their capitalist friends. Due to the anti-youth policies of the government, 10 lakh posts are lying vacant in the central government, which is 24 per cent of the total sanctioned posts,” she added.
“Indian National Congress stands with the people in this difficult time. From Parliament to Road, we have raised our voice against the incompetence of the Modi government and the directionless policies that have led to an unprecedented rise in inflation and unemployment in India. From June 2021 till now, we have organized seven nationwide protests and Jan Jagran programs. After our nationwide protest against inflation on 5th August, we will organize a Halla Bol rally on inflation on upcoming Sunday i.e. 4th September at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi,” she said.