Don’t act as moneylender, give cash aid, says Rahul

NEWDELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the government should not be a “sahukar [money lender]” and argued in favour of cash assistance instead of loans to tide over the coronavirus crisis while warning of an impending economic crisis.

“When a child is hurt, the mother does not offer a loan. As a citizen, my disappointment is the [₹20 lakh crore] package should not be of loans but for giving money in hands. The government should not be a sahukar,” said Gandhi while interacting with journalists via videoconferencing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday announced the economic package to help individuals and businesses deal with the pandemic. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has been providing details of the scheme, including free food grains, cheaper loans, and affordable housings, among others.

Gandhi asked the government to consider rolling out the Nyuntam Aay Yojana, or Nyay, which the Congress had proposed as a social welfare programme in its 2019 national election manifesto. Under the scheme, the Congress had proposed to distribute ₹72,000 cash annually among 20% of India’s poorest families, or 250 million people.

Gandhi said the scheme should be implemented temporarily in urban areas while the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) must be strengthened in the rural areas.

The demand for work under the MGNREGS has surged as hundreds of thousands of migrant workers left jobless by the Covid-19 lockdown have returned from big cities to their homes since late March.

Gandhi said he heard the government was not giving money because it wants to retain ratings. “Our ratings are made by our farmers, our workers and businessmen. When people will start working, India’s ratings will improve,” he said as he warned the government of an impending economic storm.

Gandhi said the most important thing now is to “fire demand and supply” with cash as fuel.

He refused to indulge in a political blame game and said his party will apply pressure “pyaar se [with love]” on the government to accept its proposals.

Gandhi cited the steps taken by the Congress-ruled states. He did not hesitate in contrasting their responses with those where the Congress is part of coalition governments. “If you look at the Congress-ruled states like Chhattisgarh, you will see a very aggressive strategy. But in an alliance, we try to put pressure through conversations,” he said when asked about the lack of services allegedly offered by Maharashtra for migrants.

Senior BJP MP Rakesh Sinha said: “Rahul Gandhi speaks like a feudal lord and he considers the government of the day as his fief. This government has been doing everything, taking into account two major aspects – making India an economic superpower and performing on the principle of catch-up. Secondly, another paradigm of government policy and program has been strengthening the economic foundation of the marginalized.”