New Delhi: Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday lashed out at Rahul Gandhi, saying the Congress vice president's "thinking" was in the intensive care unit (ICU) as he had failed to see the people's approval of demonetisation in the BJP's victory in Uttar Pradesh.
Asked about Gandhi's recent remark on the economy being in the ICU, Singh retorted, "The reality is that Rahul Gandhi's thinking is in the ICU. The Uttar Pradesh (Assembly) elections were held after demonetisation and those residing in the state put their stamp of approval in a way on demonetisation."
He said while the BJP would celebrate November 8 -- when the note ban was put into effect -- across the country, Gandhi and his party "will observe the death anniversary (of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes)".
"Actually his thinking has gone to the ICU," he said while addressing an event here.
The Congress vice president in a tweet last week said the economy was in the ICU, and added that "Dr Jaitley's" medicines were ineffective.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises minister also took a swipe at "people who cannot see anything" while referring to the benefits of the Centre's MUDRA scheme, which provides small business units with access to institutional finance.
"According to data, the MUDRA scheme is providing employment to an average 10 crore Indians but many people can't see this. I wonder why they cannot see it. The power of the eyeglasses worn by some people has become such that they cannot see anything," Singh said, in an apparent reference to the Opposition.
The minister launched the MSME Samadhaan portal on the occasion, a Delayed Payment Monitoring System to enable micro and small enterprises (MSEs) to register their delayed payment grievances and for central PSUs involved in procurement to monitor the status of their payment.
MSE units and entrepreneurs can file cases regarding delayed payments and check the status of their payment online. The move is expected to improve the cash flow of small businesses.
"Many units became non performing assets (NPAs) due to delayed payment. The government has made efforts to strengthen the procurement mechanism for MSEs, which provides purchase opportunities worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore," Singh said.
The portal will help in "empowering micro and small entrepreneurs across the country to directly register their cases relating to delayed payments by Central ministries/departments/CPSEs/state governments," an official statement said.
Singh said the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development (MSMED) Act, 2006, contains provisions to deal with cases of delayed payment to Micro and Small Enterprises.
Using the portal, the CEOs of state-owned units and the secretaries of the ministries concerned will also be able to monitor the cases of delayed payment under their jurisdiction and issue necessary instructions to resolve the issues.
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