Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today welcomed the Centre's decision to borrow additional 4.2 lakh crore and said it should be used to provide relief to the poor and re-start the economy.

Governments must borrow to meet their deficits and not impose higher tax burdens when economic activity has ground to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Wednesday after the Centre and the Delhi government hiked taxes on petroleum products. New or higher taxes are justified only when the economy is booming, the former finance minister said, dubbing the imposition of taxes as "cruel". Tax burdens on the middle class and the poor is actually taxing distress, he said in a series of tweets.

"Governments should give money to the people in times of distress, not squeeze and take money from the people," Chidambaram said. "We have been pleading for cash transfers from the government to the bottom half of the people/families. Instead governments are doing a reverse transfer of money from the people to the government! Cruel," he said.

New or higher taxes will impoverish families further, Chidambaram asserted. "Governments must borrow to meet their deficits, not impose higher tax burdens when economic activity has ground to a halt," he said. Chidambaram's remarks come after the central government on Tuesday night hiked the excise duty on petrol by a steep Rs 10 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 13 a litre.

Retail prices of petrol and diesel will not be impacted by the tax changes as state-owned oil firms will adjust them against the recent fall in oil prices, industry officials said. Petrol prices in the national capital were hiked by Rs 1.67 a litre and diesel by a steep Rs 7.10 per litre after the Delhi government raised local sales tax or value-added tax (VAT) on the two fuels.

Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 71.26 a litre as against Rs 69.59 previously, oil industry sources said. Diesel price has been hiked to Rs 69.39 per litre from Rs 62.29. Struggling with low revenues during lockdown, several states have also hiked taxes on alcohol.

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In the country as per estimates 44 crore people work in the unorganised sector in different places in the country and during the initial period of the lockdown people are seen walking to their native places.

His remarks came two days after Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund voluntarily decided to wind up its six debt schemes due to liquidity issues amid the coronavirus crisis.

Indian government decided to allow migrant workers, tourists, students stranded in different parts of the country to move to their respective destinations.

The Congress leader said the Centre seemed oblivious that thousands of migrant workers had started walking to their home states.

As polls come closer arrows are flying thicker, faster, sharper. Some are of time-honoured design, others quite modern. Included in the first category is flaming a party leader as communal or dissing her for being in the Italians’ pocket.