Would have resigned if I was in Arun Jaitley’s position: Chidambaram

Describing GST as a “problem child”, he said, “…GST rates are being brought down, then how come GST will grow by 67 per cent…” Chidambaram claimed that the Centre has failed the test of fiscal consolidation and will not be able to meet its fiscal deficit target in next financial year.

Speaking on the AFSPA in J&K, Chidambaram, who had also served as Union Home Minister said, “The law must be amended if not repealed. Paramilitary is not the answer. Local police is the answer. Just like in Punjab, in Kashmir, too, more power should be given to the local police. Putting armed forces at every 10 metres will not solve it….”
He added: “A macho, muscular, 56-inch chest approach will not work there.”

Chidambaram also questioned why states should bear 40 per cent cost of the Centre’s National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), which proposes a cover of Rs 5 lakh each for 10 crore families. “Why should they bear? Why should they abandon their own brand and come and get on to your own bandwagon?” Chidambaram said. Describing NHPS as “jumla”, he said: “The kind of schemes being announced in the fifth year (of NDA government) are rather reckless. Anyone who has been in government knows that if you make an announcement, even to get the scheme in place will take several months. Then to get the funding in place… will take a couple of months. To get states on board, it will take some more time and before you roll out the scheme, you will find that the year has gone by. I want to know how long will it take for the government to roll out the scheme and how many will actually be able to access it.”

Chidambaram added that NHPS was a rehash of a similar central scheme announced in the 2016-17 Union Budget. “It was then called the national health insurance scheme… they said six crore families, 30 crore people will get coverage up to Rs 1 lakh. There was no Cabinet paper, no fund allocation and the scheme quietly died in four to five months. This time, they said 10 crore families, 50 crore people will get coverage up to Rs 5 lakh. When we asked where the money will come from, they said ‘we will find the money’.”  “It is not a treasure hunt that children play on birthdays… they will fall back on savage taxation to achieve its target,” he said.