New Delhi: Former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh on Sunday urged the Modi government to reverse the politics of retaliation, which he described as a factor of India’s worrying economic outlook.
In a recorded message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that a 5 percent increase in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is a sign of a prolonged recession.
“Our youth, farmers and farm workers, entrepreneurs and the marginalised sections deserve better. India cannot afford to continue down this path. Therefore, I urge the government to put aside vendetta politics, and reach out to all sane voices and thinking minds, to steer our economy out of this man-made crisis.”
Dr Singh said the state of the economy was “deeply worrying” and the near zero percent growth of the manufacturing sector proved that it had not fully recovered from the “blunders of demonetisation and a hastily implemented GST.
“The last quarter’s GDP growth rate of 5 percent signals that we are in the midst of a prolonged slowdown. India has the potential to grow at a much faster rate but all-round mismanagement by the Modi government has resulted in this slowdown,” he said.
“It is particularly distressing that the manufacturing sector’s growth is tottering at 0.6%.”
Projecting a grim picture of the economy – depressed demand and consumption, lower tax revenues, job losses in formal and informal sector, negative investor sentiment and tax terrorism – Dr. Singh also attacked the Modi-led government for eroding the autonomy of the independent institutions and credibility of government data.
On the Modi government taking 1.76 lakh crore from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reserves, Dr. Singh, who has been a former RBI Governor himself, said the resilience of the RBI will be tested after this record transfer to the government.
“In addition, the credibility of India’s data has come under question under this government. Budget announcements and rollbacks have shaken the confidence of international investors. India has not been able to increase its exports to take advantage of opportunities that have arisen in global trade due to geopolitical realignments. Such is the state of economic management under the Modi government,” he said.
Dr Singh also claimed that the low inflation figures ‘showcased’ by the Modi government has come at the cost of farmers.
“Rural India is in a terrible state. Farmers are not getting adequate prices and rural incomes have declined. The inflation rate that the Modi government has chosen to display comes at the cost of our farmers and their income, which hurts more than 50% of India’s population.
“The Modi government’s policies are resulting in massive jobless growth. More than 3.5 lakh jobs have been lost in the automobile sector alone. There will similarly be large scale job losses in the informal sector, hurting our most vulnerable workers,” he added.
Dr. Singh’s scathing attack came after the country reported a slow GDP growth rate of 5 percent, with a sharp decline in manufacturing output in the first quarter of this fiscal year, and a decline in production sector activity.
