No way to judge poverty situation due to ‘statistical void’ in country: Tharoor

PTI, Feb 7, 2024, 3:45 PM IST

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said the government is spending money at the top level by raising capex every year as it believes in ”trickle down economics”.

Initiating the debate on the interim Budget 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor dubbed NDA as ”no data available” to reveal the real situation of poverty and consumption in the country. There is no way to judge the poverty situation due to ”statistical void” in the country, he said.

Stating that there is a need for ”mid-course correction”, Tharoor said the income of middle class, lower middle class and poor has shrunk in the last 10 years of the government. ”The government seems to believe in trickle down economics. Spend money on top, somebody will benefit down below. We believe in trickle up economy. If our economy produces what the people wish to consume, aam admi (common man) will be a full participant in the economy.

”Ordinary people should be stakeholders in the economic process but government does not see them at all and is just focusing on capex,” Tharoor said. Contradicting the government’s contention that GDP stands for governance, development and performance, Tharoor said G stands for government intrusion and tax terrorism, D stands for demographic betrayal and P stands for poverty continuing. ”This House should realise the game of smoke and mirrors that the government is playing with the interim Budget which has no redressal of real crisis plaguing the economy and the common man.

”It is high time that the elections give us an opportunity to show up their shallow rhetorics, which is all talk and no action,” Tharoor said.