New Delhi, Sep 7: Former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Friday hit out at his successor Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation and 'hasty' implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Speaking at the launch of Congress leader Kapil Sibal's book 'Shades of Truth – A Journey Derailed', Manmohan Singh said enterprises were affected by the note ban and mismanagement in the implementation of the GST.

"Demonetisation and GST's hasty implementation have hurt enterprises," Singh said. The former prime minister added that initiatives such as 'Make in India' are yet to make a big impact on the country's economy. "Programmes, like Make in India and Stand Up India, are yet to make a meaningful impact on industrial production growth. Small and marginal enterprises yet to derive significant benefit from the ease of doing business schemes," he said. Bharat Bandh on September 10: Congress, Left to Hold Nationwide Strike Against Modi Government Over Fuel Price Rise, Farmers' Woes.

The Congress MP also took on the Modi government over unemployment. He accused the government of giving wrong figures to claim that a large number of jobs were created in the last four years. "Our youth are desperately waiting for the promised two crore jobs. Employment growth rate has been declining in the last four years. People aren't impressed with the figures being put out by Modi government to justify the creation of a large number of jobs," he said.

Without taking the name of PM Modi, Kapil Sibal said 'the great leader' couldn't do anything in the last four years for the country's growth. "The great leader after 2014 gave us demonetisation where we lost 1.5 per cent GDP. In any other country, he would have had to resign. Here was a man with a majority in Parliament and what has he done for four years in terms of economic growth, liberalisation?" the former union minister was quoted as saying by ANI.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 07, 2018 08:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).