"RBI Governors Insulted By Centre, Forced To Quit": P Chidambaram

 MUMBAI: Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram today attacked the Centre over the exit of Urjit Patel and Raghuram Rajan from the RBI, saying that never have two RBI governors been humiliated and forced to quit, while speaking at a seminar in Mumbai.

While Raghuram Rajan turned down a second term, Urjit Patel quit before his term expired.

The senior Congress leader also criticized the government's agrarian policies. "MSP (minimum support price) has failed. There is no procurement machinery in place. As a nation, we have to pay our farmers an income which will keep them in farming sector," he said.

"I believe Universal Basic Income should be given for the bottom 40 per cent of people," he Chidambaram said.

Accusing the government of not handling the issue of rising fuel prices well, he said, "I don't see where the government has spent the windfall they received from lower global oil prices," he said.

"Mudra loans did not create jobs, it has created NPAs (non-performing assets)," Mr Chidambaram said about the government's flagship scheme for funding small-scale enterprises.

To a question about the current status of economy, he said, "If you have a short-term view, up to mid-May, then BJP can't do more damage, but they will leave a lot of unpaid bills for the next government to pay."