Chhattisgarh CM Baghel’s advice to Nirmala Sitharaman — put money in common person’s pocket

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel asserted Saturday that his state’s economy was beating the nationwide economic slowdown, and offered a piece of advice to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman — empower the common person.

Baghel said Chhattisgarh had managed to shield itself from the slowdown, and farmers and traders were extremely happy with his Congress government, which took over the state about a year ago.

He said the automobile sector was growing at a rate of 25 per cent in Chhattisgarh while shrinking drastically across the country, while the jewellery sector was also booming.

Baghel said the problem afflicting the economy right now was a fall in demand, so the government needed to empower the consumer.

“My suggestion is to give money to the common man, housewives and farmers to revive the economy. There is no point in giving money to big companies,” Baghel said in conversation with ThePrint’s Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta at an ‘Off the Cuff’ event in New Delhi.

“Whether it is workers or farmers, until they have money to spend, we can’t fix the problem of demand or the economy,” the CM said.