Advocating a supplementary budget, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Thursday the economy was in crisis and the budget 2020-21 had become irrelevant.
"With the crisis in the economy, the budget presented on February 1 has become irrelevant. The Finance Minister should present a supplementary budget in June," he said.
The Congress leader said after Covid -19 the situation had worsened and the government must seek Parliament's approval for new revenue streams, taxation, borrowing plans, cuts in development outlays and revised expenditure priorities.
The opposition is also demanding parliamentary oversight on the economic package. Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the Rs 20 lakh crore package. But the Congress termed it "far from reality" and a "loan mela".
Citing the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report, the Congress said unemployment rate as of May 3 was at a record 27.1 per cent, four times that of the USA. Unemployment was 8.7 per cent in March.
Of the 122 million people who have lost jobs, 91 million were small traders and labourers, and 18 million salaried class, it said and added, 27 million youth in the 20-30 year age group and 33 million in their 30s lost their jobs in April.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also criticized the government policies after Moody's, a rating agency, downgraded India. "Moody's has rated Modi's handling of India's economy a step above JUNK," he said and added, lack of support to the poor and the MSME sector meant that the worst was is yet to come.
Moody's said the Covid-19 pandemic amplified vulnerabilities in India's credit profile, such as slower growth relative to the country's potential, rising debt & further weakening of debt affordability and persistent stress in parts of the financial system.
( With inputs from IANS )