New Delhi: Pointing out that the Interim Budget announced on Friday is “silent” on jobs and education, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram ridiculed the Modi government saying all it understands is “pakodanomics”.
“Two words that are missing from the Budget speech are education and jobs. In the 10 point vision document presented by Finance Minister (Piyush Goyal), there is nothing about education, nothing about jobs.
“There is nothing about jobs because if they say anything about jobs the youth will dismiss it as ‘pakodanomics’.
“The only thing this government knows about jobs is ‘pakodanomics’,” said Chidambaram, referring to the term coined after Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked that street vendors selling ‘pakodas’ should also be considered as employed.
The Congress veteran also dismissed the NITI Aayog’s defence of the government “suppressing” a report that showed the unemployment rate at a 45-year high.
He questioned Goyal for using Hindi and English simultaneously in his budget speech.
“I am a strong supporter of the use of Hindi and English as official languages, but no one intended that the two languages should be used alternately or simultaneously.
“Those who knew only Hindi did not understand one half of the Budget Speech and those who knew only English did not understand the other half.
“Perhaps that was the real intention of the government: leave the people confused at least for a day. The mist that wraps this Budget will lift by tomorrow and the people will see the desperation and recklessness of the government,” he added.