Govt repackaging budget, no benefit being extended to farmers: Congress

NEWDELHI:The Congress on Friday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for being “insensitive” towards farmers and neglecting them in the Covid-19 economic package.

The party said the “so-called ~20-lakh crore package” for offsetting the economic fallout of the pandemic has proved to be a “jumla package” and reflects the “voodoo economics” being followed by the two. It said the government has not put a single penny in the pockets of farmers through the package and claimed that farmers have lost over ~50,000 crore this rabi season.

“The package has only 13 zeros for farmers. The finance minister is repackaging the budget and should apologise to the farmers as no direct benefit is being given to them. There is only headline and no helpline,” the party said.

Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram said while the fiscal stimulus as part of the second tranche of announcements was ~5,000 crore, it was close to zero in the third.

“...the fiscal stimulus part of the 2nd tranche of announcements was ~5,000 crore. Most analysts agree,” he tweeted. “In today’s tranche it is close to zero. Even the FM declined to answer how many of the amounts mentioned today were already part of the Expenditure Budget and how many are additional...,” Chidambaram said in another tweet.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the Congress wants to give a spin the total package of ~20 lakh crore by saying stimulus is fiscal spending alone.

“...stimulus refers to the use of monetary or fiscal policy to stimulate the economy. A stimulus can also refer to monetary policies like lowering interest rates and quantitative easing, etc. Together the total assistance given... will surely benefit the Indian economy,” Gopal Agarwal, a BJP spokesman, said.

› The package has only 13 zeros for farmers. The finance minister is repackaging the budget and should apologise to the farmers as no direct benefit is being given. There is only headline ... CONGRESS