Wrong to blame govt for slowdown: RSS

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11

BJP’s ideological fountainhead RSS is completely behind the Narendra Modi government on its economic policies, despite a much visible slowdown.

Talking to The Tribune after a three-day all-India ‘samanvay baithak’ (coordination meeting of the Sangh parivar) at Pushkar, Ashwani Mahajan of Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an RSS affiliate that deals with economic issues, said the slowdown was a “temporary” phase in the Indian economy.

“If we look at the demand figures in the country, it seems that there has been some slowdown in demand generally. However, it (slowdown) is not uniform,” he said. 

According to Mahajan, any sensible analysis would not indicate a serious slowdown in the economy. 

“The slowdown is a global phenomenon and not specific to India. If we look at the demand for the consumer goods, if we look at the sales of figures of big Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) companies, we note that Hindustan Lever recorded 7 per cent growth in their sales during last quarter (April-June). Marico company recorded a growth of 5 per cent, Dabur India 11 per cent, Colgate Palmolive 4 per cent and Nestle 11 per cent. In the same quarter Big Bazar recorded a growth of 8 per cent in their sales,” he claimed.

Regarding the much-visible auto sales crash, Mahajan said the slowdown in exports is due to international reasons while the decrease in demand for automobiles was because of domestic reasons but “definitely not due to recession”. “Banking and finance is behind the woes of automobile sector,” he said. 

At the same time, he advised the government, to “rein in and streamline e-commerce companies avoiding paying taxes by under reporting their businesses in India and following unethical business models” instead of “protecting corporate”. “For this, the government will have to streamline its systems so that legitimate revenues can be collected from these companies,” Mahajan said.

However, Sangh affiliates like the Swadeshi Jagran Manch have sought a course correction in sectors like textile, auto and real estate. But if statements coming from the representatives of trade and economic wings are any indication, the Sangh is completely backing the government. 

“I don’t say there is no need to re-look at the policy. But to say that because of the government it is happening is wrong,” Mahajan said.

‘Why fear among Muslims?’

New Delhi: For the saffron party, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb may be a villain, but his brother Dara Shikoh was a “devout Muslim who made efforts to understand the real Hindustan”. Had his message been promoted, terror organisations like Al-Qaida and ISIS would not have been formed, it says. The RSS, wonders why there is “fear” among the Indian Muslims, whose population is in crores, while the Jains, Buddhists, Jews and Zoroastrians, whose numbers are much smaller, have no such feeling. TNS