Centre should accept its mistake, seek Manmohan Singh's advise on 'economic slowdown': P Chidambaram

Hitting out at the Centre over unemployment growth and economic slowdown, Congress Rajya Sabha lawmaker P Chidambaram on Saturday said the government should accept that they have made mistakes and urge former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to advise them over 'sinking economy'.

"This is the most anti-poor government to date. Rural India and agriculture sector are in poor condition. The least this government can do is to confess that they have made mistakes and ask will Dr Manmohan Singh come and advise us," said former finance minister Chidambaram while addressing students on Union Budget 2020-21 at Hyderabad here.

Underlining that the most important thing is to know that the 'state of the Indian economy', he asked, "Why Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) is unwilling to reveal the economic state of India?"

Taking a jibe at Sitharaman, he compared the presentation of Union budget 2020 by the Finance Minister with 'Satyanaryan Katha' (religious worship of the Hindu God Vishnu).

"If I would have read 'Satyanarayana Katha' then I would have known what she had said during the budget presentation. Never before in the history of India, the growth domestic product (GDP) has declined for 6 successive quarters. What will the seventh Quarter bring I don't know? Inputs are down for the last 8 months. This government lives in denial," he said.

The Congress MP further called demonetisation a 'big blunder' and said it has "killed jobs".

"Demonetisation has killed jobs and it was a major blunder. The second blunder was the implementation of Good Service and Tax (GST). India's economic growth has got down from 8.2 per cent to 5 per cent," he said.

Claiming that 'India's economy is in the ICU', he said: "While the economy has become a patient, the Finance Minister is still saying 'Acche Din Aane Wale Hai' (Good days coming soon). I hope the patient will revive soon."

He added, Rs 11000 crore were sanctioned for mid-day meal scheme but only Rs 9,900 crore allocated.

"For skill development, they (government) proposed a budget of Rs 7,200 crore but spent only Rs 5,700 crore," he said.

Stating that no Indian and foreign investors are willing to invest in the country, he said: " This Government has vested all the major powers in the hands of lowest officers. Many provisions have been criminalised.