Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that there is a high rate of unemployment in the country and its informal sector is in disorder following the "ill-considered demonetisation decision" taken by the BJP-led government in 2016. Attacking the Centre for this decision, Singh criticised the government for not holding regular consultations with the states. "Federalism and regular consultation with states, which was the cornerstone of India's economic and political philosophy as enshrined in the Constitution, no longer finds favour with the present Central government," he said.
Inaugurating a development summit virtually organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies, an economic think tank joined to the Congress ideology in poll-bound Kerala, Singh said temporary measures by the government and RBI to conceal the credit problem of the country cannot stop us from seeing the emerging credit crisis ahead that could affect the small and medium sector.
"Unemployment is high and the informal sector is in shambles, a crisis precipitated by the ill-considered demonetisation decision taken in 2016", he said at "Pratheeksha 2030" in Thiruvananthapuram.
The summit was organised to launch a Vision Document, a framework of ideas for the development of Kerala well in the approach to the state elections.
He said in Kerala and like many other states, there’s chaos with public finances with states having to opt for excessive credit and other sectors will suffer from the unbearable burden on future budgets.
Kerala's social standards are high, but there are other sectors that need strong attention in the future, Singh said, adding that the global dip from the past two to three years has been worsened by the pandemic, making Kerala’s interface weak.
“While the increased use of digital modes of work may keep the IT sector afloat, tourism has been hit badly and the rate at which the pandemic is galloping in Kerala poses challenges for this industry," Singh added.
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Focus on health and education has proved beneficial to Kerala by taking job opportunities in the country and across the world, noted Singh. He added that this has led to the growth of money inflow from foreign nations which has resulted in a booming real estate sector here sharp growth of the services sector, led by tourism and information technology.
"Amid all the gloom, I see the UDF's steadfast adherence to planned growth with a clear sense of direction and concern for the common man a beacon of hope, not only for Kerala but for the whole country," he said.