Citing the World Bank report that flagged worsening of poverty numbers in India during the COVID pandemic and downgraded the country economic growth forecast, the Congress on Friday alleged that the situation doesn’t worry Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he is still resorting to “empty slogans”.
On Thursday, the World Bank (WB) projected a growth rate of 6.5% for the Indian economy for the fiscal year 2022-23 — a drop of 1% from its June 2022 projections — citing deteriorating international environment.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate told reporters at a press conference that the WB report stated that nearly 5.6 crore Indians have been pushed into extreme poverty during the pandemic.
“Now, given the Modi government’s nature, it may be perceived as an international conspiracy against India and maybe the Enforcement Directorate will be unleashed against the World Bank as well,” Ms. Shrinate said.
She claimed that the World Bank’s estimates of poverty in India may be lesser than the situation on the on the ground. “Some economists believe that nearly 27 to 30 crore Indians were pushed into abject poverty during the Covid pandemic,” the Congress spokesperson said, adding that it is because this reason that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi had suggested the government to put money directly into the hands of the poor.
Ms. Shrinate said rupee has hit a historic low of 82.33 to a dollar, 100 billion dollars worth of Forex reserves have been eroded since the beginning of this year, trade deficit has doubled over the one-year period, exports have dipped by nearly 3.5%, FMCG sale has dipped by 10%, further slowing investments, MSMEs have shut down, unemployment is on the rise and the twin deficit problems of Current Account Deficit and Fiscal Deficit are looming large,
“But Mr. Modi is hardly worried — he is still indulging in empty slogans and false promises. First aloo — sona and now lifting potatoes through drones — is all that he is doing. Farmers are committing suicide citing PM’s inefficiency and apathy as the sole reason,” she alleged.
