Slowing growth will improve soon: PM Narendra Modi reassures India
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Oct 05, 2017, 12.25 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Top officials worked intensely on instructions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to put together the ‘correct perspective’ on the economy to enable him to lash out at critics of his economic policy.
The PM wanted to reassure the common man that the situation would improve soon. He specifically didn’t want anxiety to spread and wanted to show allegations were largely ‘panic generating’ and the country had gone through similar blips in the past too. Official sources said that the PM wanted his speech to be filled with factual figures to present an accurate picture.
“Everyone knew the months immediately after GST would have problems and this was not the time to spread pessimism. The PM wanted that to be quelled,” an official said. For this data from RBI, GST Council, investigation agencies were brought in, collated and presented in detailed graphics, which was shared by the PM’s social media accounts.
According to officials, the PM in his recent meetings had stressed on the need to “show the bigger picture to Indian society, especially the poor and the middle class and assure them their future was in safe hands.” He felt the despondency was overdone by opposing figures. He wanted to say there were causes for concern but many things had gone right and the situation would only improve in the coming months, an official said. Every criticism of party veterans and top edits in national and international newspapers were analysed before the rebuttal was prepared.
“The data was all there, but it had to be collated and presented well in a relatable way. The PM filled his speech with narratives and simple explanations because he wanted to address the common man,” an official said.
In the last few days, top officials had also looked at shifting the narrative on how the poor and middle class had benefited after government took action against black money hoarders and shell companies. “Our business model for long has been based on tax evasion.
This government has challenged that, brought several lakhs of people into the tax bracket. The nation first policy of the PM is most visible in the way he is changing the economy. Falling real estate prices will benefit the poor. That needs to be highlighted,” an official said.
The PM also talked about demonetisation being a great success as it reduced cash to GDP ratio to 9%. “The PM is aware that top economists of the world have cited demonetisation as the best way to reform economy. The PM wants the nation to know that he not only had political guts but also bases his decision on sound analysis,” another official said.
The PM wanted to reassure the common man that the situation would improve soon. He specifically didn’t want anxiety to spread and wanted to show allegations were largely ‘panic generating’ and the country had gone through similar blips in the past too. Official sources said that the PM wanted his speech to be filled with factual figures to present an accurate picture.
“Everyone knew the months immediately after GST would have problems and this was not the time to spread pessimism. The PM wanted that to be quelled,” an official said. For this data from RBI, GST Council, investigation agencies were brought in, collated and presented in detailed graphics, which was shared by the PM’s social media accounts.
According to officials, the PM in his recent meetings had stressed on the need to “show the bigger picture to Indian society, especially the poor and the middle class and assure them their future was in safe hands.” He felt the despondency was overdone by opposing figures. He wanted to say there were causes for concern but many things had gone right and the situation would only improve in the coming months, an official said. Every criticism of party veterans and top edits in national and international newspapers were analysed before the rebuttal was prepared.
“The data was all there, but it had to be collated and presented well in a relatable way. The PM filled his speech with narratives and simple explanations because he wanted to address the common man,” an official said.
In the last few days, top officials had also looked at shifting the narrative on how the poor and middle class had benefited after government took action against black money hoarders and shell companies. “Our business model for long has been based on tax evasion.
This government has challenged that, brought several lakhs of people into the tax bracket. The nation first policy of the PM is most visible in the way he is changing the economy. Falling real estate prices will benefit the poor. That needs to be highlighted,” an official said.
The PM also talked about demonetisation being a great success as it reduced cash to GDP ratio to 9%. “The PM is aware that top economists of the world have cited demonetisation as the best way to reform economy. The PM wants the nation to know that he not only had political guts but also bases his decision on sound analysis,” another official said.
