Madurai: Without naming the Left parties, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has criticised "some 60 members of Parliament" for trying to hinder India's economic progress.
"Some 60 members of parliament find fault with whatever myself and Manmohan Singh do for economic growth," Chidambaram said.
"They say that the economic growth is irrelevant and only a small group of people had benefited from it", but "if we continue to grow close to nine percent, by 2020 India's per capita income will be $2,000 and by 2050 it will be $16,000," said the finance minister.
"If this growth rate continues, I will provide Rs.15,100 crore for the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (universal education programme) and Rs 8,000 crore for the midday meal scheme next year," Chidambaram said.
He was speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Thiagarajar College of Engineering here on Friday night.
Chidambaram said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was able to implement many development programmes for people only because of the high growth rate.
"If we continue to grow at this rate, India will be among the most prosperous countries in the world," he said.
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