Ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday slammed the government for only blaming opponents and not coming up with any solution to fix the ailing economy.
"Before one can fix economy one needs to have a correct diagnosis, the government is only doing only blaming opponents and that's why can't find solutions," Singh said.
The senior Congress leader said the slowdown compared with "government apathy and incapacity" is deeply affecting people across several states, especially Maharashtra.
Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai, Singh said the state of Maharashtra is facing the biggest issues due to economic slowdown, triggered by a sharp slump in demand.
Singh said Maharashtra is witnessing the highest factory slowdown, adding that product manufacturing in the state is witnessing large imports from China while its own industrial sectors are failing and business sentiments are down.
"Much advertised double-engine model of governance on which BJP seeks votes has utterly failed. Maharashtra has faced some of the worst effects of the economic slowdown. The manufacturing growth rate of Maharashtra has been declining for 4th consecutive years," said the expert economist.
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Stating that there is a dearth of opportunity in the state, Singh added that it is affecting young individuals who are being forced to take up low-paying jobs.
He also took a swipe at the central government over the rising number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra used to number one in investment, today it is number one in farmer suicides," Singh said.
Manmohan Singh, who has been critical of the government's policies including demonetisation and GST implementation, had earlier warned the government that the country is staring at a "protracted slowdown" unless the government takes quick steps to address issues of ailing sectors.
He again reiterated his warning and said, "There is no viable solution to problems of unemployment other than expanding the economy, and the government should give possible encouragement to business and industry we have to see that import from abroad."
The former prime minister also met with disgruntled customers of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank and said it what happened was "unfortunate".
"It's unfortunate what has happened with PMC. I appeal to the Maharashtra CM, FM (Nirmala Sitharaman) and PM (Narendra Modi) to look into the PMC issue, I have got to know people are dying of shock, they should be heard immediately," Singh said.
"I understand the matter is subjudice, so won't comment more but I do expect RBI, Maharashtra govt and central govt to pull their head together and sort out the issue," he added.