Lynching of Dalits, minorities; GST; Demonetisation made people angry: Rahul

Hamburg, Germany, Aug.23: Charging the Narendra Modi government of denying the Dalits, poor people from lower castes and minorities the fruits of development, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the incidents of lynching and attacks on Dalits and minorities, the policy of Demonetisation and the faulty implementation of GST, have made people of India angry.
Addressing the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg, Mr Gandhi said ‘Three things that the government has done have made India angry – lynching and attacks on Dalits and minorities, demonstration and faulty implementation of a badly conceptualised Goods and Services Tax.’
Launching a sharp attack on NDA government, Rahul said the basic ideas followed by all previous governments that fruits of development should be shared by all, were being attacked by this government.
‘Since independence, all the government’s till 2014 have followed the basic idea that all sections of society be included in India’s transition and that India should not transform itself for one group of people or one community.
‘People speaking different languages and from different communities must be included in this tranformation and awakening. The second idea was that transformation would mean different levels of risk for different people.
‘So, poor people would face a higher risk in this transformation and that certain groups of people would struggle and require a cushion like dalits, tribals, lower castes and minorities. These ideas are being attacked and to a great extent, damaged by the government in power today.
‘They do not feel every single person should have access to fruits of this transformation. They believe that
Tribals, Dalits, lower castes and minorities should not get the same benefits that the elite of the country get.
‘They started attacking the support structures that were designed to help certain group of people. Very recently, a law that protected Dalits from violence was scratched down, Right to Food weakened and right to guaranteed employment weakened.
‘The many that was put earlier in these schemes, is now going into hands of a few people, the largest corporates,’ he said.
Attacking the government on demonstration and faulty implementation of GST, he said ‘There is something much more dangerous that this government has done. This transition took place on an informal economy and on the backs of millions of small and medium businesses that allowed people in villages to come to cities, do a job and earn money.
‘They acted like a shock absorber for the economy. However, a couple of years ago, the Prime Minister demonitised the economy, wherein Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes were rendered worthless. This destroyed the cash flow of the small and medium businesses. Millions of workers in the informal sector were rendered unemployed.
‘They then brought a badly conceptualised and badly implemented GST, which complicated the lives of small and medium businesses and caused closure of thousands of businesses and people who worked in these businesses, were rendered jobless,’ Mr Gandhi added.