Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday, came down hard on the government for slashing the interest rates on small savings schemes, including the Public Provident Fund, dubbing it as yet another assault on the middle class.
“Slashing interest rates on small savings — on PPF and KVPs [Kisan Vikas Patra] — is yet another assault by the Modi Govt on hard-working middle class people,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted. “This Govt has failed farmers, failed the poor & now it’s failing the middle class. Modiji, ppl are seeing through your event management politics! (sic).” — PTI
Kharge slams CentreT.V. Sivanandan reports from Kalaburagi:
Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge has slammed the Finance Ministry for reducing the interest rate on small savings and those under the National Saving Certificates and said it would hit the lower middle-class and middle-class sections of society. Talking to The Hindu in Kalaburagi on Saturday, he said targeting post office and PPF schemes was aimed at reducing the income from the interest earned through small investments by these sections.
He alleged that the government, however, was soft on corporate firms and industrial houses. He condemned the Finance Ministry for not even sparing the senior citizens’ post office term deposit schemes. Even the investments in a scheme for the girl child had not been spared.
