Swadeshi Jagaran Manch national joint convenor S Gurumurthy has said that the recklessness of the UPA Government has contributed to the current account deficit amounting to $ 339 billion in the past nine years.
Addressing a public meeting held as part of SJM’s 11th national convention here on Saturday, he said on capital goods import alone India had to spent $ 587 billion.
Gurumurthy said India had gifted $ 175 billion to China by causing a trade deficit with its hostile neighbour, which was equal to three years defence budget of China.
During the NDA regime the foreign investors wanted to invest in the country. During the past one year - from August 2012 to August 2013 - the rupee got depreciated by Rs 23 against the US dollar. Fall of rupee value against US dollar by one rupee will mean that India will have to pay an additional Rs 11,000 crore towards petroleum imports, he said.
Now the situation has become complex with India needed to make an additional payment of Rs 2.63 lakh crore.
But the Finance Minister and Prime Minister could not foresee this. “Irrespective of the irresponsible government, the Indian economy is fundamentally strong. It is because of our culture, family and womenfolk who encourage the families to deposit in banks unlike the American citizens,” Gurumurthy said.
National convenor Arun Ojha criticised the government for its callous handling of the security situation.
SJM expressed strong anger against diluting the security measures when the country is surrounded by hostile neighbours such as Pakistan, China and terror-prone Bangladesh and Myanmar. Even a tiny country like Maldives is taking India lightly.
BMS national president Saji Narayanan, K Janardhanan Nair, K V Radhakrishnan and others spoke.