PM Modi’s systematic bludgeoning of MSMEs has been economic catastrophe: Congress
New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday accused the government of “systematically bludgeoning” India’s MSMEs and claimed that 140 crore Indians are now paying the economic consequences of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “cronyism, arbitrary policy-making, and refusal to engage constructively on issues”.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited a new report by credit ratings firm India Ratings to claim that the three shocks of demonetisation, “botched roll-out of GST” and imposition of a nationwide lockdown without prior notice have been devastating for the economy.
The India Ratings report has confirmed what the Congress has repeatedly warned --”the non-biological Prime Minister’s systematic bludgeoning of India’s MSMEs and informal businesses has been an economic catastrophe”, Ramesh said.
“Three shocks in particular have been devastating. The non-biological PM’s surprise announcement of demonetisation on 8th
November 2016, which virtually halted all economic activity for the following months, without bringing any clear economic and social benefits,” he said.
He said the third shock was the decision to impose a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown on March 24, 2020, without prior notice, adequate preparation, or an economic programme to protect the informal sector.
“India Ratings has now put numbers to some of the devastating effects of these three shocks: Unorganised sector contributes 44+ per cent to India’s Gross Value Added (GVA). The unorganised sector grew at 7.4 per cent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) between FY11 and FY16, but has suffered an average yearly contraction of 0.2 per cent since then,” the Congress leader said.
“By FY23, GVA by unincorporated businesses was 1.6 per cent below FY16 levels. This recession in the unorganised sector cost India 4.3 per cent of its GDP or Rs 1.3 lakh crores. 63 lakh informal enterprises shut down due to these three shocks, leading to the loss of 1.6 crore jobs,” he said, citing the report.
