Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the Centre of framing transport regulations that are crippling small bus and truck body-building workshops, alleging that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are being "deliberately strangled" instead of being supported.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha shared a video on social media of his recent visit to a bus and truck body-building workshop in Jaipur, where he interacted with artisans and manufacturers and heard their concerns.
"Sheets of iron... welding sparks... the sound of hammers... amidst all this, artisans forge India's future through their hard work and skill. In the local bus and truck body-building workshops of Jaipur, one witnesses an India that creates both employment and the nation's momentum with its own hands," Gandhi said in his post in Hindi along with the video.
"Yet, regrettably, regulations framed within the Ministry of Transport in Delhi are stifling these small-scale industries across the country. The blame for bus fires caused by technical faults is being laid at the door of these artisans who merely construct the vehicle bodies," the former Congress president said.
MSMEs that ought to be supported are instead being "deliberately strangled", Gandhi alleged.
"Make in India" and "Vocal for Local" are merely slogans, and the Modi government's policies cater only to big industrialists, he further alleged.
If these factories shut down, it won't just halt business as skills will be lost, jobs will vanish, and the burden of inflation on the common people will rise, Gandhi said.
As always, it is the hardworking and skilled Indians who will keep paying the price, he added.
The video shows Gandhi interacting with local truck and bus body builders, who outlined the challenges they face under the current regulatory framework. Gandhi assured them that he would raise the issue.
The visit follows a meeting on March 18 in which Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with a delegation of small truck and bus body builders from Rajasthan, met Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to press for relief.
Ahead of that meeting, the delegation had claimed that the government's new standards and high licensing costs could force many small manufacturers to shut down, putting the livelihoods of millions of families at risk.
Following the meeting, Priyanka Gandhi had told reporters, "The truck and bus body builders faced the problem that they have to incur significant expenses to obtain licenses, and the process is also extremely time-consuming. Gadkari has assured us that he will resolve their issues expeditiously."
However, in the video released on Monday, several truck and bus body builders told Rahul Gandhi that their grievances remained unresolved and alleged that the government was "favouring big companies".