New Delhi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday held talks with small and micro business owners discussing the issues and problems faced by them and assured them of incorporating the issues in the party’s manifesto.
The meeting participated by business persons from small and micro sectors, is part of the ‘Apni Baat Rahul Ke Saath’, an outreach programme where Gandhi interacts with different groups of people as part of the manifesto building process.
The common problem that emerged in the discussion was of the poor GST implementation and the monthly reporting mandated by its implementation.
Other issues that were discussed in the meeting were inadequate infrastructure, opacity in customs duty on raw material, difficulties in raising credit, lack of incentives and problems in accessing subsidies.
During the interaction, Gandhi focused on the employment crisis in the country, an issue which he has persistently raised to target the Narendra Modi-led BJP government.
“Everybody talks about growth, India is growing at 6per cent…7per cent… but nobody talks about jobs. Where are the jobs? You can have growth with no jobs, which is what is happening right now”.
He also targeted the Modi government over crony capitalism.
“The government, today, is funding a handful of big corporates, but they are not producing jobs. The small businesses are producing jobs. But you don’t get the funding you want
“How many jobs did Nirav Modi give India,” he asked referring to the absconding scamster.
Stressing the need to provide assistance to small and medium businesses, he said: “Nobody can compete with China except us. And, there’s huge amount of wealth and benefit that can be made, if we do it successfully. And, i think, the people who can do it are the people like you. Because you are the people who can create jobs,” he told the entrepreneurs.
As part of the outreach initiative, Gandhi had earlier in the month interacted with seven students from across the country over dinner.
The ‘Apni Baat Rahul Ke Saath’ is showcased across social media platforms and is a bid to counter Modi’s monthly radio programme “Mann ki baat”.
