Accusing the Narendra Modi government of being "pro-corporate", Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda on Friday flayed the Centre's economic policies that were widening inequality in the country.
"The economic policies pursued by the Modi government are taking India towards a path full of dangers. On one hand, it has given a succor of Rs.2.50 lakh crore to corporates by slashing the corporate tax, on the other hand it has raised indirect taxes, the burden of which has to be shared by all, irrespective of their economic status," Hooda said here at an event.
"The Modi government also did not think twice before slashing the allocations towards social security schemes and rural development schemes," he said.
"Our finance minister says the middle class can fend for themselves, our (transport) minister Nitin Gadkari says the farmers can fend for themselves, if these two classes can fend for themselves, then why is this government so eager to fend the corporates," asked the Lok Sabha member from Haryana's Rohtak.
"What can be more ironical than the fact that 60 percent of our population, which depends on agriculture, has just 17 percent of share of the GDP while 60 of the richest individuals have 17 percent share of the country's wealth," said Hooda, terming inequality as India's biggest challenge.
Hooda also said the Modi government's "tall claims" of the country's growth rate were misplaced.
"This government keeps trumpeting about the growth rate India has achieved in the past year, but what it has been hiding is the fact that agricultural growth has been at the lowest in the past 20 years."
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"Even the sale of tractors and motorcycle in the rural markets has seen a huge dip, which indicates the rural economy is suffering," said Hooda.
He called for the creation of a mechanism to measure periodic job creation.
"GDP and inflation rates continue to be the only parameters to measure growth. Despite my repeated pleas successive finance ministers have refused to incorporate periodic job creation also as a parameter. What's the use of jobless growth? So I think, mechanism must be set up to measure job creation over a period of time," added Hooda.