Rahul Gandhi made the remarks in Kurukshetra in Haryana.
On Friday, Rahul Gandhi accidentally ended up promising 'Rs 72,000 crore per year' to the 'poorest of the poor families'. In a video, Rahul Gandhi, while speaking about the Minimum Income Guarantee – that promises Rs 72,000 per year for the bottom 20% of the poorest of poor families - ended up saying Rs 72,000 crore instead.
Addressing a rally in Kurukshetra in Haryana, Gandhi promised Rs 72,000 crore to each family. He said: "Any family which has an income below Rs 12,000 per month, to those families Congress will give Rs 72,000 crore every year."
Watch the video below:
देश के हर गरीब को ये अंबानी बना कर छोड़ेगा रेे बाबा pic.twitter.com/mAS9WUR3IJ
— Nation Wants NaMo (@NationWantsNaMo) March 29, 2019
In this video shared by the official Congress handle, Rahul Gandhi can be heard making the promise at the 8: 42 mark.
The BJP also tweeted a video which showed Gandhi promising to remove 25,000 crore people from poverty.
Are you serious pic.twitter.com/0BzKoOBmbq
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 29, 2019
Read: Oops: Rahul Gandhi did it again - Congress president and his not so famous gaffes
Former vice chairman of Niti Aayog Arvind Panagariya has asserted that Congress President Rahul Gandhi's proposed minimum income guarantee initiative NYAY scheme (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) will not be able to provide RS 12000 per month to all needy families.
Taking to Twitter, Panagariya said, "Going by 2011-12 expenditure survey, even assuming that incomes of poorest households rose as fast as national average, 40% rural and 10% urban families remained below Rs. 12,000 per month in 2018-19. So NYAY will not bring all families above 12000."
However, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the party had consulted eminent economists including former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan before it came up with the minimum guaranteed income scheme, which ensures that nobody in the country remains below the benchmark of Rs 12,000 per month.
Interestingly, Gandhi tweeted that Congress would scrap the NITI Aayog if it came to power.
If voted to power, we will scrap the NITI Aayog. It has served no purpose other than making marketing presentations for the PM & fudging data.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 29, 2019
We will replace it with a lean Planning Commission whose members will be renowned economists & experts with less than 100 staff.
The Congress clarified that its minimum income guarantee initiative, NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana), is not a "top-up scheme" but assures Rs 72,000 to 20 per cent of India's poorest families.
This came after Rahul Gandhi had announced that if his party comes to power, it will implement a "ground-breaking" NYAY under which 20 per cent of the poorest families of the country will be entitled to up to Rs 72,000 per year.
Describing the scheme as unique in the entire world, he told media here that the minimum income guarantee scheme will be implemented in a phased manner as part of the "final assault on poverty".
1. What Arvind Panagriya said
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Former NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya has said the implementation of the Congress Party's ambitious 'Nyay' scheme not only poses a "fiscal challenge" to India's economy but also has a "serious incentive problem".
If Rs 12,000 per month per household is to be guaranteed to bottom 20 per cent of the population, even the average Rs 6,000 per family will be insufficient, he argued.
"But let us set that problem aside. Can we scrape Rs 3.6 trillion per year (calculated at Rs 6,000 per family for 50 million households)? There is no chance.
"It is 13 per cent of the proposed total central government expenditure in budget 2019-20," Panagariya said.
2. Cong promising moon: Rajiv Kumar
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Current NITI Aayog chairman Rajiv Kumar Kumar had accused the Congress of promising "moon to win elections".
He had also tweeted, saying "the proposed income guarantee scheme fails the economics test, fiscal discipline test and execution test".
In another tweet, Kumar had claimed that "true to its past record of promising the moon to win elections, Congress President announces a scheme that will bust fiscal discipline, create strong incentives against work and which will never be implemented".
Kumar is reported to have made similar remarks during an interview as well.
3. Inspired by PM Modi's Rs 15 lakh promise: Rahul gandhi
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Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his idea for a minimum income guarantee scheme for the poorest of poor came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Rs 15 lakh promise' made ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Gandhi said the Congress' poll promise for the ambitious 'Nyay' (Nyuntam Aay Yojna) under which Rs 72,000 will be deposited each year in the bank accounts of 20 per cent of the country's poorest is 'historic' and claimed that the prime minister looks 'shaken' ever since the announcement was made on Monday.
Accusing Modi of helping certain industrialists, Gandhi said he protects the rich while refraining from helping out the debt-ridden farmers, adding this 'Chowkidar' is a thief . On the contrary, Gandhi said his party bats for the poor, the weaker sections and the farmers.
The 2019 polls are a fight between two ideologies. On one hand are the BJP, the RSS and Narendra Modi and on the other is the Congress," he said.
Gandhi was on a day's visit to Haryana to be part of Congress state unit's ongoing six-day lone Parivartan Yatra , which began from Gurugram earlier this week.
Gandhi said unlike the BJP his party keeps its promise and referred to 'Nyay' the Congress plans to introduce if it forms the government.
"He(Modi) promised putting Rs 15 lakh into every Indian's bank account. Did anyone get anything? he said at a public meeting in Yamunanagar district's Jagadhri town.
"Truth is when our Government is formed we will put Rs 72,000 a year into the accounts of 20 per cent of the country's poorest. Modi spoke lies about putting Rs 15 lakh into every Indian's bank account, However I, felt that the idea about putting money into bank accounts of the poor was a right one if implemented with sincerity.
I caught hold of this idea. I spoke to Congress party's thinktank and told them about Modi's Rs 15 lakh promise and said he did not fulfil it, instead what he did was to do injustice with farmers, hit small shopkeepers with demonetisation, and brought Gabbar Singh Tax (GST), Gandhi said, adding he told the party's thinktank to come out with a scheme to benefit poor and they worked out the modalities in six months.
Gandhi was referring to Modi's 2014 election speech when as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate he promised to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks within 100 days of coming to power. Modi had also said that if all the black money was brought back to the country, it would be enough to deposit Rs 15 lakh in every poor person's bank account.
"It(NyAY) is historic, so much historic that you must have seen Narendra Modi's face on TV during past 2-3 days, he looked shaken .
Gandhi also accused Modi and BJP of spreading hatred and anger and putting real issues on the backburner.
"In the last five years, Modi ji has waived Rs 3.50 lakh crore of 15 industrialists.
Narendra Modi protects the rich, Modi gives justice to rich, he said.
Gandhi also said that 'anyay' or injustice had been done with farmers, poor and weaker sections and added if Congress forms the next government at the Centre it will give nyay..we will give justice to the poor, farmers, labourers, small traders... "During the past five years, Modi has made several promises to the people of this country. Wherever he goes, he spreads hatred," Gandhi alleged.
Gandhi asked party workers to fan out in every nook and corner to apprise the people about the minimum income guarantee scheme.
He also attacked Modi on the Rafale deal issue alleging irregularities in the procurement of jet fighters.
He (Modi) used to say I do not want to become pradhan mantri and I want to become chowkidar. He used to say 'Achhe din ayenge'. These days a new slogan is running. 'Chowkidar chor hai' (watchman is a thief)," said Gandhi while taking a dig at Modi.P
