Congress Puts Reality Check On Modi Government’s ‘Glitzy’ Picture
New Delhi, January 28: Showing an actual mirror to the BJP government on the economic front, the Congress today put a reality check on the glitzy picture being presented by it (the BJP government) ahead of the budget being presented in a few days from now.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here today, Chairman, Media & Publicity (Communication Department) Pawan Khera said, “140 Cr Indians are living in ANYAY KAAL imposed by BJP’s misrule!”
He said, even as the Modi government is busy toppling elected governments from the backdoor, the “Economic Distress” remains precarious. “This shows their priorities”, he remarked.
Khera said, in coming days, the Congress party will present a positive agenda of ‘NYAY’, with five pillars, which include Yuva Nyay, Bhagidari Nyay, Nari Nyay, Kisan Nyay and Shram Nyay.
Pointing out the desperate situation on the job front, the Congress spokesperson said, the youth of the country were prepared to risk their lives and work in war torn Israel.
He disclosed that the National Skill Development Cooperation (NSDC) has advertised 10,000 jobs in Israel – a country which is at war right now. He said, these are not some white-collar jobs, but those of plastering workers, ceramic tile workers, iron bending workers and framework workers.
The Congress spokesperson said, thousands of people from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have applied for this job with most of them being graduates. “Why would any person want to go to a country engaged in war and become a labourer?” he asked, while observing, “the answer is that their average monthly income is just ₹10,000 (most below minimum wage) while Israel is offering almost 13-14 times that salary.
Giving figures about the economic distress prevailing in the country, he said, half of the Indian population, about 71 crores have an income of ₹3,87,000 per year or less, or about ₹32,000 a month or less. “The per capita monthly income of the bottom 10 per cent is just ₹6,000 and of the bottom 11-20 per cent ₹12,000”, he added.
Maintaining that the rural wages growth rate during the last five years of Modi government has become negative, for both agriculture (-0.6 per cent) and non-agriculture (-1.4 per cent), he said, it was reflective of the “Rural Distress”. He said, ‘daily wage’ in rural India for men in 2022-23 is ₹212, which is lower than ₹220 in 2014.
Drawing comparisons with the growth rate during the UPA-2 (2009-10 to 2013-14), he said, the real agriculture and non-agriculture rural wages grew at 8.6 per cent and 6.9 per cent per annum respectively during that period.
Quoting the UNDP’s multidimensional poverty index, he said, 22.8 crore people or about 16 per cent of the population in India are living below the poverty line.
The Congress spokesperson observed that the pitiable condition of the poor is reflected by the ever-escalating demand for MGNREGA. “The 15.4 crore active registered workers under MGNREGA who were promised 100 days of work in a year, were allotted in the last five years, on average, only 49-51 days”. He said the Modi government had slashed its funds in the Budget 2023-24, but was forced to allocate ₹28,000 Cr more, due to high rural joblessness.
On the employment front he said, the joblessness was highest in 45 years.
Khera said, growth in private consumption expenditure, which is a catalyst of creating jobs, is at 21-year low. FMCG sales, he added, did not see any increase in 2023, again indicating why the Household Savings are at a 50-year low.
