Modi failed to uplift economy, youth restless: Manmohan

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday slammed Modi government’s fiscal policies saying “knee-jerk reactions and off-the-cuff announcements of grandiose schemes have failed to uplift the economy to its potential.

In his convocation address at the Delhi School of Management, Singh said that the domestic challenges of India's economy were daunting in their complexity and devastating in their impact on the society.

“Knee-jerk reactions and off-the-cuff announcements of grandiose schemes and unproductive projects have manifestly failed to uplift the economy to its potential," he said here.

The "jobless growth" has slipped into "job-loss growth", which, together with rural indebtedness and urban chaos, has made the growing number of aspirational youths restless, the former prime minister said.

Singh said the “grave agrarian crisis, the declining employment opportunities, the pervasive environmental degradation, and above all the divisive forces at work” were some of the challenges facing the nation.

"Suicides of farmers and frequent farmer agitations reflect the structural imbalances in our economy which call for serious in-depth analysis and political will to address them," the senior Congress leader asserted.

In a scathing attack on the government, Singh said the small and unorganised sectors which were vibrant and contributing to the generation of wealth and employment opportunities have grievously suffered in the wake of the "disastrous" demonetisation and "slipshod" introduction and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"Well thought-out policy and implementation strategies are required to stimulate industrial and commercial sectors,” he said.

Singh said the current situation was a “testing time for our democratic spirit, our patience and tolerance, our capacity of managing contradictions, our resolve of ensuring inclusive growth – a strong, equitable and sustainable growth.”