Congress consulted Raghuram Rajan, other economists before announcing minimum income scheme: Rahul

Jaipur: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said his party consulted “big economists” including former RBI governor Rahuram Rajan before it came up with the idea of minimum guaranteed income to the poorest 20 percent households in the country. Addressing a meeting of his party workers in Jaipur, Rahul lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his prime to transfer Rs 15 lakh to every bank account. “We thought it was a good idea… Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts. But the promise was not fulfilled by Modi. We started our work six months ago to make such a thing reality,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_5549111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Twitter @INCIndia[/caption] He went on to say that his party consulted “all big economists, without telling anyone, without giving any speeches”. “We were engaged in this work for six months. Take the list of all big economists of the world, we consulted them… Raghuram Rajan… one by one,” he said. “First, we came to know was that there should be a minimum income line. We calculated and the result was that the minimum income line should be 12,000 per month,” he said, adding that the party will fulfil the promise. On Monday, Rahul had announced in New Delhi that Rs 72,000 per year will be given as minimum income to poor families, benefiting around 25 crore people, if his party is voted to power in Lok Sabha election, and asserted it will be the “final assault” on poverty. Rahul had said 20 percent or five crore families belonging to the poorest category with monthly income less than Rs 12,000 would come under the scheme