A day before the first anniversary of demonetisation, former prime minister Manmohan Singh launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, while insisting on his earlier statements that the note ban was an organised loot and legalised plunder.
Singh, who is in Gujarat which goes to polls in December, interacted with traders and businessmen in Ahmedabad before speaking to media. He said that demonitisation had proved to be a mere bluster to reap political dividends while the real offenders have escaped.
The economist par excellence said that nowhere in the world has any democracy undertaken such a coercive move, withdrawing legal tender status of 86 per cent of currencies in one single swoop. Nobody would advise to bring out an even more high value currency note of Rs 2,000 after invalidating 500 and 1,000 rupees notes.
The fact that more than 99 per cent of the demonetised currency came back into the banking system, has punctured the government's claims, he said.
Demonitisation, he said, was thrust upon the economy with not enough prior thought about its likely impact and undesirable side effects.
The former prime minister also criticised the current form in which the GST was introduced and said that there were loopholes in the administrative arrangements for the implementation of the tax.
Speaking to the media, he said that he was surprised when prime minister Narendra Modi said that the Congress and the Congress-led Central governments have always hated Gujaratis. “Nothing can be farther from the truth,” he said.
Tearing apart Modi's claims that nothing has been done in 70 years before he became the prime minister, Singh put forth certain figures. He said that at the time of independence, life expectancy was 31 years and now it was 71. Literacy was 18 per cent and now it was 76 per cent.
Specifying that he was not claiming that the achievements were of the Congress or the Congress-led governments, he said that these were achievements of the people as well. “I wish the prime minister would find more dignified ways of impressing crowds and seeking their votes without resorting to statements which denigrate our country,” he said.
Singh expressed doubts over the prime minister's claims that India would become a developed country by 2022. “I would be the happiest person in the world if he can deliver that. But is he really aware of what it implies,” questioned Singh.
He said that our per capita income is about $ 5000 based on what is called purchasing power parity. At the lower end of the developed countries we have Greece with a per capita income of around $ 25000. That, he said, was five times our per capita income level. To increase our income five fold in five years, we would have to achieve a growth rate of 35 per cent per year. “No country has ever done this. Is Modiji promising he will do that,” remarked Dr. Singh.
Singh also took on Modi on the latter's pet project – the Bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai – ground breaking ceremony for which was held some time ago.
According to him, the bullet train project launch with much fanfare was sadly an exercise in vanity and would not benefit either 6.5 crore Gujaratis or the nation. He said that Rs 88,000 crore through a 'soft loan' may seem like easy money, but still needed to be repaid to the Japanese, and Gujarati entrepreneurs know very well that. If a deal is too good to be true, it probably isn't.
Singh said that project requires the creation of a parallel infrastructure while our existing passenger rail network is languishing and needs a dire infusion of funds to improve both safety and speed. The past year, he said, had seen the highest number of deaths due to the derailments in more than a decade, but the government's priorities were misplaced.
Referring to the criticisms by the prime minister on the Narmada issue, he said that Modi had never met him on the issue.
