Former Union minister P Chidambaram on Saturday called on the Congress party to “declare boldly” that its next task in the future government will be to lift the bottom 50 per cent of India’s population out of poverty. Winding up the discussion on Congress’s draft economic resolution at the 85th plenary session in Raipur, Chidambaram stressed the need to reset India’s economic policies with an aim to redistribute wealth. (Also Read | Tharoor targets Jaishankar over foreign policy, China issue: ‘Shocking to hear…’)
“Just as we embraced an open, competitive and liberal economy, I submit that the time has come for Congress party to declare boldly, and in a forthright manner, that our next task is to lift the bottom 50% of the people of India out of poverty,” the senior Congress leader said.
Drawing attention to the glaring wealth gap, Chidambaram said the party to must openly adopt the bottom 50 per cent of India’s population, wealth-wise, as its constituency and promise to lift them out of poverty.
“The bottom 50% can only be lifted out of poverty and made into a middle class…if we reset our economic policy,” he added.
He noted that the first set of economic policies, introduced as a part of liberalization in 1991 during the P. V. Narasimha Rao government, created the conditions for faster growth.
“The second set of economic policy that we must begin today, the reset of economic policy that we begin today must clearly aim at distributing wealth, ensuring that not only wealth is created but equity and equality are created.”
Chidambaram also opined that the prevailing inequality will lead to political instability as well as social strife.
“So just as in the first 20 years we embraced an open, liberal, competitive economy, we must determine from today that we will embrace economic policies which will redistribute wealth, create work, create wealth and make sure that it is distributed more equally and equitably among the people of India,” he said.
“We must not hesitate, we must not flinch, we must not be afraid to openly declare that from this day onwards, the Congress’s economic policies will create work, create wealth but will ensure that is equitably distributed so that the bottom 50% of the population will get most of the benefits over the next 20-30 years,” he added.
