New Delhi [India], May 25 (ANI): Congress General Secretary Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that Rs 20 lakh crore economic package has come as "a rude shock for anyone who was expecting some respite" from the Central government during the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

In a statement, Kharge said: "The so-called Rs 20 lakh crore economic package has now been analysed by experts. Its total cost works out to less than one per cent of the GDP. It has come as a rude shock for anyone, who was expecting some respite."

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The Congress veteran claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi only intends to make grand headline news without taking his colleagues into confidence. "That is perhaps why the Finance Ministry was unprepared and put together such a shoddy package," he said.

In the statement, Kharge said that on May 5, the Chief Economic Advisor specifically warned against a stimulus measure as large as Rs 20 lakh crore or 10 per cent of the GDP, saying that India cannot afford it.

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"Probably, he was not aware that the Prime Minister was announcing a Rs 20 lakh crore package a week later. In any case, it turned out that the package is worth less than one per cent of the GDP but it shows how the government functions," the statement has quoted Kharge as saying.

"Today, the agriculture sector is the only bright spot which is expected to grow at 3 per cent when the GDP for the second quarter is expected to fall by as much as 45 per cent. Farmers have already lost fruit and vegetable produce due to lockdown, have sold crops at below minimum support price because they could not transport their harvest. A sincere government would spend money to procure harvest."

The AICC General Secretary said: "The government is giving Rs 2,000 every quarter to farmers, which comes to a measly Rs 500 per month as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana. If the government can announce that no insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings will be initiated against businesses that are affected due to corona, then it should instruct banks to treat farmer loans the same way."

Kharge said the rural areas are expecting a huge influx of migrant workers, who are returning to their villages. "MGNREGA remains the only social security net for the rural poor. At Rs 200 per day, the additional Rs 40,000 crore funds for MGNREGA would translate to only 20 days of additional work for 10 crore workers," he said.

"Would this be sufficient to take care of the additional 8 crore migrant workers who have gone back to their villages? Would this be sufficient to take care of 150 days of work under MGNREGA that the government should be providing," he asked.

The Congress leader further said the misery inflicted by the lockdown on the migrant workers is unmissable. There has been no relief provided to the migrant workers; in fact, the government has openly mocked their plight in their press conferences.

"If the government had announced direct cash transfer to these migrant workers when the lockdown was first announced, probably they would not have felt the need to walk back hundreds of kilometres," he said.

The Congress leader stated that the government says providing free ration from its overflowing godowns is part of the relief package and put a price of Rs 30,500 crore to it. "This ration was to be given to those entitled to it anyway. What is the special relief in giving the monthly ration due to the poor anyway," he asked.

"Even top industrialists have asked direct cash transfer of Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,500 per month to the poor to boost demand. This will also ensure economic freedom to the poor and prevent at least 20 crore people from falling back into poverty. The government simply does not want to provide any direct relief to the poor because it would mean endorsing the NYAY scheme that Rahul Gandhi had proposed," added Kharge. (ANI)

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