Devil is in the details: Siddaramaiah mocks Centre’s package

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday termed the Centre’s lockdown relief measures as “disastrous and non-existent” and expressed doubts on their effectiveness.

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“The first set of measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is disastrous and non-existent in terms of benefits to poor migrants, labourers, contract employees, farmers etc,” Siddaramaiah, the Leader of the Opposition, said in a series of tweets.

The devil lies in the details, he said. “The contribution by the government for the schemes announced are mostly notional and less of actuals,” he said, adding “most of the intended benefits may not reach the end recipient.”

He questioned the credit infusion to the MSME sector, saying it may help industries to clear dues to vendors “but it is doubtful if they shall utilise the credit available to pay their labourers & to prevent job cuts.”

The Centre is “totally ignorant” of the actual spending needed to boost consumption, Siddaramaiah argued. “How can credit be considered as government spending?”

He said he was looking forward to the next set of measures. “The Covid-19 fight should not be another perception battle but a real one.”

Meanwhile, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa hailed the Centre’s moves. “This Rs 3 lakh crore aid would be a boon to the economic revival of industries and the labourers. This is a very timely and scientific move with expertise and collateral-free loans for MSMEs will boost them to resume operations. This will benefit 45 lakh MSMEs in the country,” he said in a statement.

“None of the Covid-affected countries have announced such a huge economic revival package for the industrial sector in the world. This is a bold step towards motivating people to exit the lockdown system to work and earn their bread,” Yediyurappa said.