Modi govt's schemes are mere 'slogans': Yechury

Various schemes launched by the Narendra Modi government were merely "monthly slogans" as they have failed to fetch anything concrete for the country, even as job opportunities were shrinking, the CPI(M) said today.
"These big announcements and schemes like 'Make In India', 'Start Up India' and others are just monthly slogans that don't fetch anything.
"There is nothing for common people. These schemes won't be realistic till purchasing power of people increases," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury today said at a press conference here.
Claiming that there is a major economic slowdown in the country, he said, "While several schemes are being announced, job opportunities in the country are declining... There are different factors responsible for this decline."

The decline in industrial production is at 2.2 per cent, manufacturing units are facing decline by 13.3 per cent and agriculture stands at negative two per cent growth, he claimed.
"All these mean employment (generation) has remained stagnant and job opportunities are getting narrower," Yechury said, adding that despite crumbling oil prices in the international market, the benefit of this phenomenon does not reach the common people.

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"Modi often said the number of the opposition MPs is so less that they could be adjusted in a single bus. But, later in Delhi Assembly polls, BJP could get only three MLAs elected. These MLAs could get adjusted in an auto-rickshaw," he said.

The Left leader alleged that the issue of chanting the "Bharat Mata ki Jai" slogan was raised with the only intention to stoke tension.
"Instead of saying 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', we could say 'Jai Hind' but we are saying 'Inqlab Zindabad'," Yechury said.
During his speech, the Left leader also touched upon the protests by students at Hyderabad Central University, JNU and FTII.
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Meanwhile, Maharashtra Kisan Sabha (MKS), affiliated to All India Kisan Sabha, stated in a release that over 65,000 farmers have committed suicides in Maharashtra since 1995.
"Policies of the BJP-led governments of Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis are ranged against farmers and only platitudes are being dished out.

"Modi in his pre-election speeches and BJP's poll manifesto of 2014 had stated that recommendation of Swaminathan Commission of giving MSP as cost of production plus 50 per cent profit would be implemented. However, on coming to power, the Modi regime filed an affidavit in Supreme Court in February 2015 declaring that giving this price to farmers is unfeasible. There is no talk of giving loan waiver to the farmers," it stated.
The MKS claimed the Modi regime has showered corporates with tax concessions of Rs 12 lakh crore in last two budgets.
"The total estimated loan in the country is Rs 8 lakh crore and in Maharashtra the total loan of 40 lakh agricultural households is Rs 39,000 crore.

"Liquor king Vijay Mallya, who was elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka with BJP's support, was allowed to flee the country although he has fleeced banks of Rs 9,000 crore," the release added.