NAGPUR: 45Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Subramanian Swamy on Friday called for the revival of small- and medium-scale industries to increase the economic growth of India and to reduce unemployment and poverty.
Delivering a lecture here on ‘Can India become an economic super?’, Mr. Swamy said, “We need to encourage small- and medium-scale industries to reduce unemployment, which in turn will reduce poverty. India, being a country with a huge labour force, also needs to discourage use of machinery in industries.”
He blamed former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan for the “destruction of small- and medium-scale industries” and asked the government to desist from employing “parachuted experts” from abroad who have no ground knowledge. “Had Rajan been a nationalist, he would have stayed in India and joined an IIT, but he ran away. Even our economic advisor is running away to USA.”
Blaming Jawaharlal Nehru for “the destruction of agriculture by imposing Soviet communist economic system” on India after Independence, the BJP leader said the country’s agrarian potential was yet to be completely utilised.
“We need 10% GDP growth for 20 years to get rid of unemployment and poverty. We don’t lack resources to make this country an economic superpower. We just need to sort out our priorities and formulate policies for achieving our aims,” he said.
He assured the gathering that a Ram temple would be built in Ayodhya soon, and said that former finance minister P. Chidambaram’s son would soon be made a “special guest” in Tihar jail.
Crediting former prime minister Narasimha Rao with economic reforms, Mr. Swamy announced that his party would make sure that Mr. Rao be given a Bharat Ratna soon.
He also called for the abolition of income tax. “I have asked [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi to abolish income tax, but he has not acted on it as yet. Income tax is a major reason behind black money. There is no need of income tax. It’s a poison for our country,” he said.
He also called for connecting all the rivers in the country. Mr. Swamy said India would surpass China in growth by 2025.
