Swadeshi Jagran Manch national co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan says what we need is a person who has faith in farmers, workers and entrepreneurs of Bharat.
New Delhi: The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an affiliate of the RSS, has questioned the functioning of outgoing chief economic advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian, saying he lacked ideas and wasn’t aware of conditions in the country.
In a parting shot at Subramanian, who quit Wednesday, SJM national co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan told ThePrint that the Centre should promote experts “who know the country”, rather than importing consultants from abroad “who go on a sabbatical as soon as they face opposition”.
Casting aspersions on these ‘imported consultants’, Mahajan said, “We do not know what their agenda is and who is driving it.”
The RSS leader alleged that Subramanian suffered from the ‘Washington Consensus’ syndrome that, he added, was “intrinsic to many of those coming to guide India in its economic policies”.
“I had, in fact, told him that he suffers from the Washington Consensus,” Mahajan said.
The Washington Consensus is a set of economic policy prescriptions for crisis-wracked developing countries, developed by institutes based at the US capital.
‘Only two ideas’
Mahajan claimed that all the former CEA advocated were two ideas — to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) and to move farmers out of villages.
“Every time we met him, he advocated pulling farmers out of villages. And when we asked him whether he had a plan to rehabilitate them, he had none. I asked him whether he plans to rehabilitate the farmers in bungalows in Bengaluru or if he knew where the farmers could find jobs,” said Mahajan.
The RSS leader alleged that Subramanian never sought to improve the agriculture sector nor develop villages but advocated moving farmers out of villages even in his economic survey reports.
“Do they just want to sell the nation to the private sector and let farmers die? There is a need for a person who has faith in farmers, workers and entrepreneurs of Bharat and has no plans to go on a sabbatical,” stated Mahajan.
Asked if he had any name he would like to suggest to the government, Mahajan said all the SJM would do is advocate on the qualities that a prospective candidate should possess, but it was the government’s prerogative to choose Subramanian’s successor.