Taking aim at the government following its release of the pre-budget Economic Survey, Congress leader P Chidambaram said it is a time for "contrition and change, not for boasting and nothing else."
India's economic growth is expected to be between 8 and 8.5 per cent in the fiscal beginning April 1, according to the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
During the current financial year, the Economic Survey 2021-22 forecasts a 9.2 percent economic growth, which indicates the recovery to pre-pandemic levels.
Chidambaram said the government's Economic Survey repeats "ad nauseam" that by the end of 2021-22 the economy would have recovered to the pre-pandemic level (2019-20).
The former finance minister tweeted, "In plain language, that means we will be at the same level on 31.3.2022 as we were on 31.3.2020 after two years."
The Economic Survey repeats ad nauseum that at the end of 2021-22 the Economy would have recovered to the pre-pandemic level (2019-20)
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) January 31, 2022
India is ranked 104 out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index due to the two years' job losses, income losses, and poverty. Chidambaram says millions of jobs were lost in the last two years; 84% of households lost income in the last two years; 4.6 crore people were pushed into poverty.
"Now is the time for contrition and to change (the approach), not for boasts and no change," he said.