New Delhi: India needs to be cleverer about lifting the lockdown and should open the economy in a measured way but also as fast as possible so people can have their jobs, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday.
The country does not have the capacity to support people across the spectrum for too long, Rajan said in a conversation with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the economic impact of COVID-19.
To Gandhi's question on how much money would be needed to help the poor in the current situation, the former RBI chief said India needs Rs 65,000 crore to help the poor in these times of a pandemic. Considering its total GDP, it can afford to do that, Rajan added.
Rajan also asserted that India cannot afford to be a divided house especially in times when the "challenges are so big".
"We have to be cleverer about opening up...We need to open up in a measured way but as fast as possible so that people start having jobs. We don't have the capacity to support people across the spectrum for too long. Being a relatively poor country, people start out with significantly lower reserves," Rajan said.
"It is all too easy to have a lockdown forever, but obviously that is unsustainable for the economy," the economist said.
The dialogue between Gandhi and Rajan, the first of its kind initiative, was broadcast on the Congress' social media handles.
India has been in lockdown since March 24 to curb the spread of COVID-19. According to Gandhi, infrastructure connects people and that gives opportunity. But if there is division and hatred, it disconnects people, he said.
There is an infrastructure of division and hatred and that causes as big a problem, the former Congress chief said.
Agreeing with Gandhi, Rajan said, "Social harmony is a public good. Having everyone believe that they are a part of this system, an equal part of the system is essential. We cannot afford to be a house divided especially in these times when our challenges are so big."
