BJP says COVID economic crisis was handled with focus on poor

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national executive on Saturday lauded the changes made by the Modi government in the recruitment with the Agnipath scheme, and dismissed talk of a crisis in employment, countering that the government had made the highest ever budget allocation for public spending during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A resolution on “ gareeb kalyan” or welfare of the poor was passed at the BJP’s national executive, which met in Hyderabad on Saturday, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh moving the resolution which was seconded by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and further supported by Haryana Chief Minister M.L. Khattar.

Briefing the press on the resolution, which was likely to be amended a little before being fully released, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Modi government had handled the economy well, keeping the welfare of the poor at the centre of its policies amidst a global economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The government through the Gareeb Kalyan Yojana has distributed free grains to 80 crore beneficiaries for 25 months, and has also, via gati shakti programme made the highest announcement of public spending on infrastructure, which is part of job creation efforts,” he said. “If there was an acute [jobs] crisis, then social harmony would have been hit,” he added.

To questions on inflation and the continuous weakening of the rupee against the dollar, Mr. Pradhan said that the unprecedented crisis was not limited to India. He also cited the war between Russia and Ukraine to say that India’s situation cannot be seen in isolation. “Even through all this, we are still being counted as the sixth most robust economy,” he said.

He said that both General Anil Puri and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had given a “professional explanation” for the Agnipath scheme, which led to widespread protests when it was announced.