At Chintan Shivir, Congress talks about a ‘reset’ of economic policies
The Hindu
Questions of rising inequalities, extreme poverty among the bottom 10% of the population need to be addressed: Chidambaram
India reaped the benefits of the 1991 economic liberalisation ushered in by a Congress-led government, but global and domestic developments make it necessary to contemplate a “reset” of economic policies, former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Saturday.
As the convener of the Committee on Economic issues, Mr. Chidambaram addressed the media on the party’s position on various issues that came up on day one of the party’s three-day-long Chintan Shivir at Udaipur in Rajasthan.
Calling for a comprehensive review of fiscal relations between the Centre and the States, Mr. Chidambaram demanded that the compensation to the States for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) should be extended for a period of three years.
Mr. Chidambaram said the wrong policies of the government had fuelled inflation and unemployment and that it was clueless about how to set things right.
Downplaying the Modi government’s argument that inflation was linked to the Ukraine war, Mr. Chidambaram said, “The Ukraine war has added to our problems, but we should have taken pre-emptive action. I don't think lame excuses like the Ukraine war can explain why there is high CPI and WPI inflation”.
“What the Modi government is doing is another repeat of India Shining. We are confident we will be able to put forward an economic road map that will appeal to the people and defeat the hyperbole and exaggeration of the government," he said.
The former Finance Minister said India reaped enormous benefits from the liberalisation of 1991 in terms of wealth creation, new businesses and entrepreneurs, a huge middle class, millions of jobs, exports and lifting 27 crore people out of poverty during a 10-year period.
The All-India level NEET examination was started a few years ago to counter complaints of corruption during the joint entrance examinations held at the State level. AIDSO had warned the authorities that the solution to the menace of corruption was not changing the examination system, but to investigate the corruption and punish the guilty.