Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Pritam Singh lambasted BJP Government for implementing wrong policies which had resulted in two transporters committing suicide in the State in the recent past. Singh expressed grief over death of a Dehradun based transporter Balwant on Wednesday. Expressing condolence, Singh alleged that BJP led governments at centre and state have become insensitive to people’s issues. Due to wrong governmental policies, earlier farmers had committed suicide and now businessmen are being compelled to commit suicide due to loss in their business after implementation of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax.
PCC chief said that on January 9, 2018, a Haldwani based transporter Prakash Pandey had committed suicide while another transporter Balwant had chosen to commit suicide after failing to cope up with the pressure of financial loss on Tuesday.
Large number of people in the country have lost their business after implementation of demonetisation and GST. Prakash Pandey and Balwant were among those businessmen who suffered major financial losses due to ill effect of GST and demonetisation, he said. The PCC chief opined that the number of middle class persons had opted to run their own businesses like Pandey and Balwant had increased substantially after creation of Uttarakhand State. He said that the main matter is of survival and nothing else and if the Govt can not stop it, then it has no moral authority to remain in power.
However, many of them have suffered major loss in business due to effects of GST and demonetisation within a year of the BJP Government being formed in the State, he averred. Singh said that most of the middle-class people in business had taken loans from private, nationalised or cooperative banks. “Following implementation of GST and demonetisation coupled with the state government’s wrong policies, such businessmen are finding it harder to run their business successfully and pay the monthly installments towards repayment of their bank loans. The reasons which compelled two transporters to commit suicide are also affecting the business of many other persons across the State.
Despite the opposition prominently raising this issue, the government has remained apathetic,” he opined.