NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the government of privatizing Public Sector Units (PSUs) and destroying jobs.
Gandhi's accusations came in the backdrop of the government selling its entire 52.98 percent stake in India's second-largest fuel retailer and third-biggest oil refiner BPCL.
"Today, the country is facing many Modi government-manufactured disasters, among which is unnecessary privatization. The youth need jobs but the Modi government is destroying employment and capital by privatizing PSUs," he tweeted in Hindi.
"Who is benefitting? It is only doing the development of a few "friends", who are close to Modi. Stop Privatisation Save Government Jobs," Gandhi tweeted.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the Modi government has proved itself as one which is "infected by political as well as economic bankruptcy".
"While China is registering a growth of 3.8 percent of its economy, India has been contracted by -23.9 percent. Modinomics has fallen flat, for the survival of economics Jingoism can not be a remedy, Sh Narendra Modi Ji, you should talk to former PM Sh Manmohan Singh Ji and listen to him patiently," he tweeted.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram also said news reports say that the State Bank of India plans to implement a VRS scheme as an 'economy measure'.
"In normal times the plan would be debatable. In these abnormal times, when the economy has collapsed and jobs are scarce, it is cruel," he said.
The Congress leader said if India's biggest lender has to shed jobs, imagine what other big employers and MSMEs are doing.
"The plan is ostensibly voluntary but we know that subtle pressure will be brought on the employees that the Bank wants to get rid of. If the current rules provide for genuine voluntary retirement, why announce a new plan and give out an exact number like 30,190," he tweeted.