Rahul Gandhi said there cannot be any compromise on the basic principles by allowing unsafe workplaces.

Terming Narendra Modi’s regime as “Demon 2.0”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Saturday accused the Centre of inflicting damage to Indian economy by refusing to shell out cash to support people and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Sharing a news report that pointed out the impact the coronavirus-induced lockdown would have on the economy, especially the MSME sector in the country, Gandhi demanded an immediate provision of Rs 10,000 to the poor and an economic stimulus package for the MSMEs to help them revive their conditions.

“Government is actively destroying our economy by refusing to give cash support to people and MSMEs. This is Demon 2.0,” he tweeted. Gandhi had earlier said that it was “criminal” on the part of the government to not provide cash to the people and the industry to get the country’s economy out of this crisis. He had also that the lockdown imposed by the government has “failed” in achieving its aim and purpose. He had also warned “haphazard” lifting of the lockdown could result in a second wave of the pandemic in India — one which could be “extremely devastating.”

In order to boost the MSME sector, worst-hit by the nationwide lockdown, the Cabinet Committee on Monday announced that it would infuse Rs 20,000 crores into the sector but in the form of subordinate debt. Earlier too, collateral-free loan worth Rs 3 lakh crore for the MSMEs was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan economic package.

In a conversation with Gandhi last month, Nobel Laureate economist Abhijeet Banerje too had stressed that the government should put money in the hands of the bottom 60 per cent of the population post-lockdown to spur demand and trigger growth besides announcing a big stimulus package. He had also advocated waiving off loan repayments for small businesses in the June quarter.