‘Modi govt nothing but UPA III, picks discarded reforms’

NEWDELHI: The BJP-led NDA government is continuing with the policymaking processes of its predecessor, resulting in a scenario with no new jobs and sluggish economy, the labour wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has said.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), which claims to represent over 5,000 affiliated unions, has upped the ante against the government’s economic policy, claiming it has neither resulted in job creation, nor given indigenous production a fillip. The outfit will organise a march to Parliament on November 17, against what it calls the “anti-labour policies”.

BMS president Saji Narayanan told HT the participation of common man in policymaking is totally absent today as was the case during the UPA regime.

“UPA government had thrown into the dustbin certain reforms due to public resentment. This government picked them up saying they are its own reforms. The present reforms are mere continuation of those of the UPA. That is why this government is nothing but UPA III as far as economic and labour reforms are concerned,” Narayanan said.

He, however, rejected former finance minister Yashwant Sinha’s criticism of the government’s economic policies. He said the senior BJP leader was the “pioneer in hijacking NDA’s swadeshi economics to the LPG (liberalisation-privatisation,globalisation) camp.”

“(Dattopant) Thengadiji, the founder of BMS, had to go to the extent of calling him “anarth mantri” (disaster minister). Present maladies are continuation of the policies of which he is a co-accused,” Narayanan said.

The BMS is peeved that the government has not done enough to add jobs, even as it has announced flagship schemes such as Make in India and Skill India with the intent to create jobs and entrepreneurs.

“The benefits of the growth phenomenon do not reach the social sector. Proposals such as bullet trains, flyovers, express highways and airports become misfits when the development of the poor is neglected,” he said.

Even as the government has been pegging an imminent turnaround in the economic situation on the GDP figures, the BMS is unconvinced.

It has called for recasting the think tank, Niti Aayog, and recalibrating the measure for growth. “The policy makers sitting in Delhi forget that all of India’s major jobs generating sectors are in collapsed state due to liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation reforms. The main focus should be to revive these labour intensive sectors,” he said.

RSSAFFILIATE BHARATIYA MAZDOOR SANGH SAID THE GOVT’S ECONOMIC POLICIES HAVE NEITHER CREATED JOBS NOR GIVEN LOCAL PRODUCTION A FILLIP