Manmohan Singh Blames Modi Govt's Ill-Considered Demonetisation

Delhi: Taking potshots at the ruling dispensation at the Centre, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said unemployment is high in the country due to the BJP-led government’s “ill-considered demonetisation decision” in 2016.

“Unemployment is high and the informal sector is in shambles, a crisis precipitated by the ill-considered demonetisation decision taken in 2016,” PTI quoted Dr Singh as saying.

Dr Singh also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for not holding regular consultations with states.

“Federalism and regular consultation with states, which was the cornerstone of India’s economic and political philosophy as enshrined in the Constitution, no longer finds favour with the present Central Government,” he said.

Dr Singh was speaking after inaugurating “Pratheeksha 2030”, a development summit organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies, an economic think tank aligned to the Congress ideology in poll-bound Kerala.

The former prime minister also used the occasion to shower praises on the Congress-led UDF front in Kerala.

Lauding the UDF Government’s decision to incorporate “radical ideas” like the “NYAY” in its assembly election manifesto, Dr Singh said the scheme outlined in the Congress manifesto of 2019 general elections will provide direct benefit transfer to the “poorest among us”.

Dr Singh said the focus on health and education has enabled Kerala to take advantage of job opportunities elsewhere in the country and in all parts of the world.

The former prime minister, however, pointed out there are many roadblocks ahead that Kerala has to overcome.