Economy in 'critical' state, govt running away from debate: Anand Sharma

Congress on Tuesday said the country's economy is in a "critical" state and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "running away" from a debate on the issue.

Talking to media persons here, party leader Anand Sharma said the "country's progress has stopped".

He said that the Modi government got a huge mandate and there was an expectation that it would create an atmosphere to give a boost to the economy. "But the situation is serious," he noted.

Sharma claimed that 10 lakh jobs have been lost in the last one month and there has been a slump in demand and curtailment in production of automobiles.

"The automobile sector has been badly hit and there is an apprehension that by the end of this month, 3.5 lakh jobs will be lost," he said.

The Congress leader said that the demand for passenger vehicles has come down by about 20 per cent and so has the production.

Referring to the commercial vehicle segment, he said there has been about 26 per cent reduction in demand and commensurate cut in production.

"What is the reason the Prime Minister, the Finance minister and the government are running away from a debate? It is question pertaining to the livelihood of people, unemployment, manufacturing and exports," Sharma said.

The Congress leader also said, "One-third of the industrial capacity is lying idle.