NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in parliament as his scheme to abolish 500 and 1,000-rupee notes was labelled “a monumental management failure” by his predecessor, Dr Manmohan Singh.
“I do not disagree with these objectives, but there is monumental mismanagement of which there are no two opinions in the country as a whole,” said Dr Singh, whose government was decisively defeated by PM Modi two years ago.
Dr Singh, a reputed economist, opened the debate in the Rajya Sabha on demonetisation on behalf of his party, the Congress. He said that while he cannot presume to know “the final outcome,” agricultural and economic growth will be dented by the PM’s sudden cancellation on November 8 of the high-denomination currency. “The GDP of the country will decline by about 2 per cent by what has been done. And this is an underestimate and not an overestimate,” said the Congress leader.
Since the winter session of parliament began last week, the opposition has attacked the government for failing to anticipate the shortage of cash that has eclipsed the country since the notes were cancelled with just a few hours of notice. Opposition leaders have been demanding a statement from the PM, while the government, till today, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would present the government’s explanation.
