Govt's announcements on economy another attempt at PR: Yechury

Describing Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's announcements to boost the economy as "another attempt at PR", CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday said the government's fundamental policies were "flawed".

Sitharaman announced a raft of measures on Friday, including rollback of the enhanced super-rich tax on foreign and domestic equity investors, exemption of start-ups from "angel tax", a package to address the distress in the auto sector and upfront infusion of Rs 70,000 crore to public sector banks, in efforts to boost economic growth from a five-year low.

"Government's announcements yesterday about the economy are nothing but another attempt at PR and managing headlines. When fundamental policies are flawed, expertise is missing, there is no sense of direction and data constantly fudged, these cosmetic steps do not matter.

"Withdrawing surcharge on the super-rich, no concessions for farmers committing distress suicides or any plans for employment generation! What is left out from these proposals is any concern for crores of ordinary people!," Yechury said in a tweet.

He also accused the government of discarding the Budget announcements in favour of "PR exercises".

"Do Budget announcements have any sanctity left or not? It is one of the most important functions of the Parliament, which seems to have been discarded in the favour of these PR exercises by the govt. So much for democratic accountability," he said.