Union Budget 2024: From low household savings to unemployment, Mallikarjun Kharge slams PM Modi

Budget session: Ahead of the Union Budget presentation on July 23, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for ignoring crucial economic issues and prioritising his public relations.

Kharge strongly criticised PM Modi for what he perceived as a failure to address fundamental economic issues. He pointed out the widespread presence of unemployment, inflation, and inequality during NDA government's tenure. 

He highlighted a concerning situation of youth unemployment, stressing that the rate has escalated to alarming levels, particularly among individuals aged 20 to 24, reaching as high as 40%.

“It's been 10 years, you used your PR to keep the government away from the basic issues of the people, but this won’t work after June 2024,” said Kharge, referring to the result of the Lok Sabha elections last month. In the recent elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Modi, did not obtain the desired number of seats to form a government independently. As a result, a coalition government has been established at the national level, marking PM Modi's third consecutive term in office.

In a detailed post on ‘X’, Kharge wrote about economic problems related to inflation, and problems faced by youth and farmers. He said, “Narendra Modi ji, Your government has ruined the lives of crores of people by pushing them into the pit of unemployment, inflation and inequality.”

On inflation
Kharge expressed concern over the soaring prices of staple goods like flour, tomatoes, and pulses. He highlighted that inflation has led to a drastic reduction in household savings, reaching levels not seen in the past 50 years, and has also widened economic disparities to a point reminiscent of the pre-independence era.

On Unemployment
The Congress chief highlighted the unemployment rate of 9.2 per cent, as reported by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) for June. According to CMIE, this rate stood at an eight-month high, up from 7 per cent in May.

On unavailability of govt jobs
Kharge noted that since 2016, the Centre has sold small stakes in top 20 public sector undertakings (PSUs), resulting in the government job losses of 125,000 people.
He claimed that the Centre’s sale of its majority stake in sevenPSUs has resulted in a significant loss of approximately 384,000 government jobs. “This has also led to the loss of jobs in SC, ST, OBC, EWS reserved posts,” he said.

On Manufacturing front
Kharge conveyed concerns regarding the decrease in the manufacturing sector's contribution to the GDP during the BJP's regime. He highlighted the decline from 16.5% under the Congress-led government to 14.5% under Modi's administration. 

Additionally, Kharge criticised the government for the inadequate attraction of private investment, which plummeted to a 20-year low of only Rs 44,300 crores between April and June. Moreover, he emphasized the pressing issue of inflation.

On Farmers’ welfare
Kharge highlighted unfulfilled pledges to double farmer incomes and questioned the efficacy of Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for crops, accusing the Modi government of using them as electoral topics rather than effective policy measures.

The promise of doubling the income of farmers and MSP of cost plus 50 per cent has turned out to be false, he said.

Recently, on the MSP of 14 Kharif crops, the Modi government has again proved that it wants to use the MSP recommendation of the Swaminathan report only as an “election gimmick”, he claimed.

On private investment
“Private investment has also fallen drastically in the last 10 years. New private investment plans, which are an important part of GDP, fell to a 20-year low of only Rs 44,300 crore between April and June. Last year, private investment of Rs 7.9 lakh crore was made during this period,” Kharge noted.