Minimum Basic Income scheme (NYAY), promised by Congress party in the manifesto for Lok Sabha elections will neither cause economic hardships to the middle class of the country, nor hurt the economy, Congress president Rahul Gandhi promised on Monday at a public meeting at Mahuva in Bhavnagar district. "We will not increase Income Tax, so middle class has nothing to worry about it. We will implement it as soon as we win 2019 elections," Gandhi said at the public meeting at Aasrana Chowki, which falls on the conjunction of Amreli, Bhavnagar and Junagadh Lok Sabha constituencies. He told audience that the scheme was given a shape after thoughtful consideration by experts, and that the promise by BJP's promise in 2014 election of depositing Rs 15 lakh in bank account of every individual had a role to play in the formation of NYAY scheme. "Narendra Modi gave a number, Rs 15 lakh. If this much money is deposited the economy will be destroyed. But the concept was good. I told our think tank of expert economists to come out with a number, which we can deposit into bank account of people and yet there is no harm to the economy. It turned out to be Rs 72,000 or Rs 3.6 lakh in five years for five crore poorest families or 25 crore people. This would have a magical impact on the economy," said Gandhi. He further added, "Demonetization and Gabbar Singh Tax (GST) had a devastating impact on the economy. People's purchasing power was lost, so factories are not able to produce and jobs are lost. NYAY would give cash to the masses and infuse demand for goods and services, restart factories and generate jobs," he said, adding that instead of taxing the middle class, the money will come from businessmen like Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya. "This government has no problem waiving loans of industrialists. Loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore have been waived off. On the other hand we will waive loans of farmers," he said. He castigated Prime Minister for having dual standards with respect to industrialists and farmers. If businessmen do not pay loans, they can run away from the country, they are not being jailed, but if a farmer fails to repay the loan, he is jailed. “We want common standards. If farmers can be jailed, so should be businessmen. If businessmen are not jailed, farmers should not be jailed as well,” said Gandhi. The party has promised that non-payment of agricultural loans will be a civil offence.

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