Economy will not revive smartly unless govt puts money in the hands of bottom half of families in India: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: A day after the RBI Governor, the SEBI chief and the DEA secretary spoke on the economy, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday took a dig at them, saying he wishes the economy was a "circus lion" that would respond to the stick of the ringmaster.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said the economy will not revive smartly unless the government puts money in the hands of the bottom half of the families in India and puts food on the plates of the poor.

"Is it not intriguing that @DasShaktikanta, the SEBI Chairman and the DEA Secretary should speak on the same day on the same subject?" the former finance minister said.

All three have tried to "talk up" the economy, he said.

"I wish the economy was a circus lion that would respond to the stick of the ringmaster!" Chidambaram said.

"The three distinguished men should tell the FM, in unison, that the vast majority of the people do not have the money or the inclination to buy goods and services," he said.

"If you doubt what I say, just listen to the voices of the voters of Bihar on their existential crisis -- no work or not enough work, no income or little income, and their thoughts are on surviving, not on spending," Chidambaram said, tagging Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Finance Ministry.

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the country is at the doorstep of economic revival on the back of accommodative monetary and fiscal policies being pursued by the central bank and the government.

While SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi on Wednesday said there are some positive aspects as well in it, and termed the recovery in the capital markets as broad-based, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj spoke about attracting investments.