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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Israel is a tumor that has to be removed.

At the same time, he has also supported sending weapons from Iran to Palestine. On the other hand, the US, European Union and Israel have strongly criticized Iran's statement.

Opposition to Israel is a major issue in Shia-dominated Iran. Palestinian and Lebanese armed groups opposing peace with Israel have received Iran's support. Iran has not recognized Israel till date.

According to the news agency Reuters, Ayatollah Ali Khamani said, "The rule of the Jews in the area is like a tumor that has become fatal and canker." Of course it will be destroyed one day. ''

Khamenei said this in an online Khutba on the last day of Ramadan.

The US, the European Union and Israel have reacted strongly to Iran's remarks.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Iran, "The forces threatening to destroy Israel will have the same result."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected Khamenei's statement, calling it hateful and anti-Semitic remarks.

He said that these things do not match the tradition of tolerance of common people of Iran.

European Union foreign policy chief Joseph Borel said that Khamenei's remarks are completely unacceptable and a cause for concern.

However, Palestinian armed groups such as 'Hamas' and 'Islamic Jihad' operating in Gaza have been praising the money and arms support from Iran.

But before Friday, Khamani had never publicly confessed that Iran supplies arms to these armed groups.

Khamnai said, "Iran realizes that Palestinian fighters have only one problem and that there is a shortage of arms." With the will and help of Allah, we planned and changed the balance of power in Palestine and the Gaza Strip can stand against the attacks of Jewish enemies and defeat them. ''

Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, "Israel has many big challenges." Khamenei's statement makes it perfectly clear. ''

Benny Gantz wrote on Facebook, "I cannot advise anyone to take our test ... We are ready to face any kind of danger."

Iran's supreme religious leader said much more in his address on Friday besides making a statement against Israel.

According to the news agency AFP, Khamenei said on this occasion, "Freedom of Palestine is our Islamic responsibility. The aim of this struggle is the independence of the entire Palestinian territory and the Palestinians have to return their country. America wants the presence of Jewish government in this area to be made normal. The pro-American governments of some Arab countries are preparing the situation for this. ''

Every year Iran celebrates 'Quds (Jerusalem) Day' on the last day of Ramadan to support the issue of Palestine. This tradition has continued in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

This is the first time in the last 30 years when Khamneni, as the Supreme Leader of Iran, was addressing this occasion. However, he has been consistently saying that the issue of Palestine is the biggest problem of the Muslim world.

This year, Iran had postponed rallies related to 'Quds Day' due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalme Khalilzad has said in an interview to the Indian daily English newspaper 'The Hindu' that India should talk directly with the Taliban.

This is probably the first time that a US official has asked India to negotiate directly with the Taliban. Among Asian countries, India is the only country which does not have formal relations with the Taliban.

Although China, Iran and Russia also refused to accept their government during the Taliban era in Afghanistan, now all three countries are in touch with the Taliban. Russia also hosted an international conference in November 2018 in connection with the Afghanistan peace process.

India has invested billions of rupees in Afghanistan in the last 20 years and Afghanistan has also made every effort to maintain its friendship with India in every possible way.

According to the Indian embassy in Kabul, so far India has invested more than two billion US dollars in Afghanistan.

The friendship between New Delhi and Afghanistan also became stronger because both were accusing their neighboring country of Pakistan for helping those fighting the Taliban and Kashmir.

According to Afghan affairs analysts, there are two major reasons why India has not kept contact with the Taliban till now. The first is the allegation of a close relationship with Pakistan or support of the Taliban, which opposed the government of Afghanistan until a few years ago, and the support of the Taliban fighting against India in Kashmir.

With the end of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, India again sent its diplomatic staff to Afghanistan after five years.

Former Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Gautam Mukhopadhyay was one of the Ambassadors who reopened the Indian Mission in Afghanistan.

Gautam Mukhopadhyay told the BBC that this is a friendly message for India indicating that the Taliban may soon enter Afghanistan's politics and India should also come on-board.

American author Barnett R. Ruben, who has written three books on Afghanistan, says that Khalilzad has not said that India should treat the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, but rather that the way other countries have contact with the Taliban and other factions . Similarly, India also kept in touch with the Taliban and asked them to give up arms and enter active politics.

But the question arises whether the Taliban will lay down arms to enter active politics? It would not only be hasty to say so but it would be a childish thing. Ruben may have forgotten or ignored the history of the Taliban or is making statements that affect him. Ruben will recall that the US could not defeat the Taliban in its military operations in the last 20 years, and the US was forced to make compromises with the Taliban, kneeling before the Taliban. The Taliban is a powerful military force group, arms are its strength. The Taliban have captured more than half of Afghanistan by force of arms, and many provinces are ruled by the Taliban. Why would the Taliban lay down arms in such a situation? The Taliban will retain their military force even after entering active politics.

According to Ruben, "Now that the Taliban have entered into the politics of Afghanistan, it will be good for India that it will make relations with them in the same way as it keeps with the Jamaat Islami, General Dostam or the post-apartheid groups. ''

According to Ruben, India's policy for the Taliban has already changed. He says that this was indicated when India sent two former ambassadors to the international conference to be held in Moscow in November 2018.

However, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had said at the time that these two ambassadors are attending 'informally' in this conference.

Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Afghanistan Taliban's political office in Doha, told the BBC that the Taliban's political office has been created so that they can share their policy with the countries of the world.

He says, "Whoever contacts us, we will inform them about our present and future policy."

According to Sami Yusufzai, working as a journalist in Afghanistan, during the period of Taliban, more Kashmiri and Punjabi 'Mujahideen' had entered into Afghanistan and at that time India's concern was justified.

According to him "Now the Taliban can solve their problems with India easily".

According to former Indian Ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhyay, India has not formally rejected the Taliban till date, it is another matter that he has not been in touch with them.

Gautam says that before talks with India, the Taliban should talk to the Afghan government and they should agree. He says, "I am not talking as a representative of the Government of India but would say that the Taliban should accept and talk to the Government of Afghanistan before India."

The question arises that when the Taliban does not accept the government of Afghanistan, why will it talk to India? The Taliban spokesman has already said that whoever contacts us, we will inform them about our current and future policy. That is, the Taliban themselves will not talk to anyone.

What will happen to the Government of Afghanistan now?

The question is that when many countries including USA, Germany, Russia, Iran, China and Pakistan have direct or indirect relations with the Taliban, why should the Afghan government worry if Afghanistan's close friend India has relations with the Taliban Should be?

According to Shaida Mohammad Abdali, former Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, India is a close and true friend of Afghanistan in this region, which, even if it belongs to the Taliban, will see the benefits of the government of Afghanistan more than its benefits, unlike other countries.

Could it be that India will put Afghanistan's interest above its own interest? What would happen if the Taliban formed a government in Afghanistan?

According to Abdali, "Although it is not clear yet what conditions India agrees to talk to the Taliban, but looking at the friendship between India and Afghanistan, I can say that even if they talk, the information of the Government of Afghanistan Will do with.''

Then the question arises that why the Taliban who do not talk to the Afghan government will talk to India? That too on India's terms!

Abdali understands that from the very beginning, it has been the effort of the Afghan government that regional countries should also play their part in the Afghan peace process and according to them, if a friend like India belongs to the Taliban, then the Afghan government will not have any concern.

Can Pakistan be worried?

On the one hand, if India has invested more than two billion dollars in Afghanistan, on the other hand the former jihadi leaders of Pakistan have good and friendly relations with the Taliban and other country. Some Pakistani analysts believe that the former Mujahideen and the Taliban can defend Pakistan's gains in Afghanistan as far as possible.

Since 2001, as India and Afghanistan's historical relations once again grew, Pakistan's concern about it also increased. Pakistan is worried about why India is investing billions in Afghanistan?

Pakistan believes that the Government of Afghanistan should be closer to Pakistan than India. However, Afghanistan believes that as an independent and self-reliant country, Pakistan has no right to interfere with their relations with any other countries.

Pakistan has alleged that along with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Baloch protesters are also using Afghanistan's land against Pakistan. On the other hand, the acceptance of India among the people of Afghanistan is high and even today Pakistan's intelligence agency is blamed for most incidents of extremism.

According to Ruben, if Pakistan believes that the Taliban in Afghanistan will defend the benefits of Pakistan, then it will be a big mistake for Pakistan.

According to him, due to compulsion, the Taliban took refuge in Pakistan, now as they get back into the mainstream of Afghan politics, their dependence on Pakistan will also decrease.

It is difficult to fully agree with Ruben's talk. Even today, the Taliban control and direct control over half of Afghanistan's territory. One more thing, Pakistan has played an important role in getting the US-Taliban agreement. In such a situation, why would the Taliban leave their old ally Pakistan when the Taliban entered active politics? The Taliban has ruled Afghanistan before. Did the Taliban leave Pakistan then? Even then, there were good relations between the Taliban and Pakistan and still exists.

But why should India talk to the Taliban at the behest of America? If America compromises with the Taliban, then why should India talk to the Taliban? Should India dance at the behest of America? The corona virus has caused havoc all over the world. Powerful countries like America, Russia and China have also been destroyed by this. After the destruction of the corona virus, the world will change a lot. Every country will think only of its own interest. In such a situation, India should also think only about its own interest.

Rahul Gandhi: In India, you have to think about the problem of caste, because the dominant castes here use the money in their own way.

Dr. Banerjee: Maybe, but on the other hand, you can also stop it. In such a situation, I will keep some extra money so that it reaches the eligible people of the village. Exactly as you are saying in the case of PDS. That is, make it a principle. This way it can be avoided.

But you are talking about more than reaching money. Some people have Jan Dhan accounts and some do not. Some people are named in MNREGA, this is another way to reach people. Some have Ujjwala, some do not. Once you look at the list and you will know that millions of people are deprived of them, then how to benefit them? Yes, one thing is clear that the local administration should have money that can identify and benefit people. I agree with you that dominant castes can take advantage of this. We had similar fears in Indonesia, but it was not very big. I think we should try, knowing that some of it will be wrong. If you do not try, then there will be a big problem.

Rahul Gandhi: That is, move ahead courageously, take the risk because we are in a very bad position.

Dr. Banerjee: When you are in trouble, you should work with courage.

Rahul Gandhi: What do you think, if this disease is finished in 6 months from now, what will happen on the poverty front? It will have bad effects, people will go bankrupt. How do we deal with this medium term?

Dr. Banerjee: See what we are talking about. There is the issue of lack of demand. There are two concerns, first, how to avoid the chain of bankruptcy, debt forgiveness can be one way, as you said. The second is the reduction of demand, and the wheel of the Indian economy can be rotated by paying money in the hands of the people. America is doing so on a large scale. There is a Republican government run by some financiers. If we want, we can do it too. There is no government of liberal-minded socialists, but there are people who have been working in the financial sector. But they decided that to save the economy, people would have to pay money. I think we should learn from this.

Rahul Gandhi: This creates the possibility of some degree of change in the balance of power in the world, it is also clear. What do you think about it?

Dr. Banerjee: I care more about countries like Italy and France. Especially Italy, which suffered disastrous consequences and is partly a result of the fact that Italy did not have a qualified regime for many years. As a result, healthcare was absolutely paralyzed. America has adopted a nationalist view that is not right for the world. The rise of China is a threat to him and if America starts reacting to it then it will pose a risk of instability. This is the most worrying thing.

Rahul Gandhi: That is, strong leaders can deal with this virus. And it is being explained that only one man can beat this virus.

Dr. Banerjee: It would be fatal. The United States and Brazil are two countries that are badly in disarray. There are two purportedly strong leaders here, and they show that they know everything, but only laugh at what they say every day. If anyone has faith in the principle of a strong leader, they should think about it.

Rahul Gandhi: Thank you very much. Whenever you are in India, please drink tea together. Hello everyone at home.

Dr. Banerjee: You too, and take care of yourself.

Rahul Gandhi: I think you have to find alternatives. As much as possible decentralization, I think they can be dealt with locally, which is a good thing. The thinking should be that things which can be managed at the district level or at the state level should be separated. Yes, there are many things that no district collector can decide, such as airlines or railways etc. So I believe that major decisions should be at the national level, but decisions on local issues, such as lockdown, should be left to the discretion of the state government. The choice of the states should matter and the states should decide what they can and cannot do. And when the risk falls on the states, they will be able to handle it better. But I think the current government has a different view. They want to keep things under their control. They look at things and centralize it. These are two views. I don't think any of it is wrong or right. I am in favor of decentralization.

Dr. Banerjee: What do I think I would do? On the basis of whatever money I have, I would announce some good schemes that this money would reach the poor and then, seeing the effect of it, I would improve it further. I think there are many good NGOs in every state who can help in this. As you said, the District Magistrate also has good ideas at times. We should take advantage of all this.

Rahul Gandhi: Have you seen some experiences in other countries that can benefit?

Dr. Banerjee: Let me tell you what Indonesia is doing right now? Indonesia is going to give money to the people and all this is happening as a decision-making process at the community level. That is, the community is deciding who is needy? And then money is being transferred to him. We have worked with the Government of Indonesia and saw that this is a far more accurate process than a centralized process. With this you decide without thinking of any special interest. Here at the local level only people are deciding what is right? I think this is an experience from which we can learn. He told the community that look is money, and it has to be passed on to those who are in need. This is a good policy in an emergency because the community has that information and information many times, then you do not have it in a centralized system.

Rahul Gandhi: In India, you have to think about the problem of caste, because the dominant castes here use the money in their own way.

Dr. Banerjee: Maybe, but on the other hand, you can also stop it. In such a situation, I will keep some extra money so that it reaches the eligible people of the village. Exactly as you are saying in the case of PDS. That is, make it a principle. This way it can be avoided.

But you are talking about more than reaching money. Some people have Jan Dhan accounts and some do not. Some people are named in MNREGA, this is another way to reach people. Some have Ujjwala, some do not. Once you look at the list and you will know that millions of people are deprived of them, then how to benefit them? Yes, one thing is clear that the local administration should have money that can identify and benefit people. I agree with you that dominant castes can take advantage of this. We had similar fears in Indonesia, but it was not very big. I think we should try, knowing that some of it will be wrong. If you do not try, then there will be a big problem.

Rahul Gandhi: That is, move ahead courageously, take the risk because we are in a very bad position.

Dr. Banerjee: When you are in trouble, you should work with courage.

Rahul Gandhi: That is, the sooner you come out of the lockdown, the better. A strategy will be required for this, some economic activities will have to be started for this. Otherwise money will prove to be useless.

Dr. Banerjee: How soon to get out of lockdown depends on the disease. If a lot of people are getting sick, how will the lockdown end? You are right that we have to control the pace of disease and keep an eye on it.

Rahul Gandhi: The other important thing in relation to India is the issue of food, and its scale. There are uncountable people who do not have ration cards. One argument is that whatever is full in the godowns should be given to the people, because it is the harvest season and they will be replenished by the new crop. So this needs to be proceeded with aggression.

Dr. Banerjee: Actually I wrote a paper together with Raghuram Rajan and Amartya Sen. The same thing was said in this, whoever needs it should be given a temporary ration card. Actually, the second ration card should be set aside, only the temporary ration card should be recognized. Whoever needs it gets it. Initially, renew for three months and after that if needed, and ration should be given on the basis of this. Give the ration card to anyone who comes to ask and make it the basis of benefit transfer. I think we have enough reserves, and we can run this plan for a long time. If the rabi crop has been good, then we have a lot of grains (wheat, rice). At least we can give wheat and rice. I do not know if we have sufficient quantity of lentils or not. But I think the government should also promise lentils. There should also be a system of edible oil. But yes for this we should issue temporary ration card to everyone.

Rahul Gandhi: What else should the government do in the package? We talked about small and medium industries, we talked about migrant laborers, we talked about food. Apart from this, what can be more that you think the government should do?

Dr. Banerjee: The last thing will be that we should send money to those who need machinery etc. We cannot deliver cash to people. People who have Jan Dhan accounts will get money. But many people do not have accounts. Especially migrant laborers do not have this. We have to think of a large section of the population who do not have access to all of this. In such a situation, the right step would be to give money to the state governments which reach the people through their schemes, help of NGOs can be taken in this. I think we will have to keep some money in the item whether it reaches the wrong people or goes around. But if the money is kept in hand, that is, we do not want to do anything, then there will be a big mess.

Rahul Gandhi: There is also the issue of balance between centralization and decentralization. Every state has its own problems and strengths. Kerala is handling the situation in a completely different way. Uttar Pradesh has a completely different approach. But the central government has a special role to play. But I feel some tension about both these thoughts.

Dr. Banerjee: You are absolutely right that there is tension and only the state governments cannot handle the issue of migrant laborers. It is a little strange that this front is being seen as being so bilateral. I think this is a problem. Here you do not want to decentralize because you want to share information. If this part of the population is infected, you would not want to roam around the country. I think the place where people are being boarded by the train should be tested. This is a central question and the answer lies only with the central government. For instance, tell the Uttar Pradesh government clearly that you cannot bring your workers here. That is, if the laborers are in Mumbai, then it is the problem of the Maharashtra government or the municipality of Mumbai city, and the central government cannot solve it. I think you are right. But what is your opinion on this at the moment? There seems to be no solution to this problem. But in the long run, the institutions are strong. But at the moment this is not happening which we can do.

Rahul Gandhi: I think you have to find alternatives. As much as possible decentralization, I think they can be dealt with locally, which is a good thing. The thinking should be that things which can be managed at the district level or at the state level should be separated. Yes, there are many things that no district collector can decide, such as airlines or railways etc. So I believe that major decisions should be at the national level, but decisions on local issues, such as lockdown, should be left to the discretion of the state government. The choice of the states should be important and the states should decide what they can and cannot do and when the risk falls on the states, they will be able to handle it better. But I think the current government has a different view. They want to keep things under their control. They look at things and centralize it. These are two views. I don't think any of it is wrong or right. I am in favor of decentralization. 

Dr. Banerjee: That is why people like us say that incentive packages should be given. This is what America is doing, this is what Japan and Europe are doing. We have not decided anything yet. We are still only talking about 1% of GDP. The US has given a package equivalent to 10% of GDP. I think we can do it easily for the MSME sector, and it would be right that we can stop debt collection for some time. We can do more than this. We can also say that the repayment of debt for this quarter has been canceled and the government will pay it. So you can do more than this. Instead of just repaying the loan back and forth, it would be right to forgive it. But even further it is not clear whether it is right to target only MSMEs? The need is to increase demand. People should have money in their hands so that they can shop, go to stores, buy consumer goods. MSMEs have many products that people buy, but they are not buying. If they have money and you promise to give money then it is possible. Money is not there. If you are in the red zone, or wherever the lockdown is being removed, then you can spend if you have 10,000 rupees in your account. Spending is the easiest way to revive the economy. Because this will bring money in the hands of MSMEs, they will also spend, and thus a chain will be formed.

Rahul Gandhi: That is, we are talking about NYAY scheme in a way i.e. direct cash transfer that reaches people directly.

Dr. Banerjee: Absolutely. This should be debated only for the poor. I am saying a big thing ... I believe that targeting will be the most important. You are setting a goal in the middle of a mess. There will also be people whose shop is closed for 6 weeks and has become poor. I do not know how such people will be identified. I would say that the lower 60 per cent of the population should be given money as a target, nothing bad will happen. We will give them money, they need, they will spend, it will have an effective effect. I want some more aggression in this than you, I want money to be given to people even beyond the poor.

Rahul Gandhi: So you are talking about mass grouping of people directly. That is, demand should increase as quickly as possible.

Dr. Banerjee: Absolutely. This is what I am saying. Before the crisis, I am saying that the problem of demand is before us. And now it has become a bigger problem because it is extraordinary. I do not have money, I will not buy because my shop is closed. And my shop is closed, so I will not buy anything from you.

Rahul Gandhi: I think you are saying that whatever needs to be done, it needs to be done fast. The sooner you do it, the more effective it will be. That is, what is going on every second is increasing the loss.

Dr. Banerjee: You are absolutely right. I don't want to see everyone's qualifications before we help whether they are eligible or not. I believe that we will create a mismatch chain of supply and demand, because we gave the money but the retail sector is closed due to being in the red zone. So we have to think better that when you go out for shopping, then only you will get money and not in advance. Or the government should promise that you will not be disturbed, you will get money and there will be no chance of dying of starvation, so that you can have some savings. If people are assured that there will be money in their hands for two months or as long as there is a lockdown, then they will not bother and will want to spend. Some of these will have their own savings. Therefore, it is also not right to hurry, because there is no supply. Even if you give money, it will be useless, inflation will increase separately. With this request, yes a quick decision has to be made.

Rahul Gandhi: That is, the sooner you come out of the lockdown, the better. A strategy will be required for this, some economic activities will have to be started for this. Otherwise money will prove to be useless.

Dr. Banerjee: How soon to get out of lockdown depends on the disease. If a lot of people are getting sick, how will the lockdown end? You are right that we have to control the pace of disease and keep an eye on it.

Dr. Banerjee: I think it is two different things. In a way, I think that the real problem that immediately arises is that the good policies that the UPA had framed are inadequate at the moment. The government has adopted them in a way. It is not that there was any discriminatory disagreement on this. It is quite clear that UPA policies would work for whatever could have happened.

The difficult task is to do for those who are not part of these policies or schemes. And there are many such people. Especially migrant laborers. The scheme which was brought in the last year of UPA rule that Aadhaar should be implemented nationwide and used for PDS and other schemes. You will get the benefits of Aadhaar, wherever you are. There is a great need to implement this scheme at this time. If we look back, it could have saved many people from trouble. If this happens, people would go to the local ration shop and show their Aadhaar that I am the beneficiary of PDS. For example, even though I am from Malda or Darbhanga or anywhere, I can take advantage of it in Mumbai. Even if my family lives in Malda or Darbhanga. But here is my claim. And if it did not, then it means that there is no system for many people. They are also not eligible for MNREGA because there is no MNREGA in Mumbai, and could not even be a part of PDS as they are not local residents.

Actually the problem is that while designing the welfare schemes, the thinking was that if someone is not at his place of origin then it is assumed that he is working and he is earning. And that's why this system collapsed.

After this, the question is about poverty. I do not know that even if the economy improves, it will have a lasting effect on poverty. The big worry is whether the economy will recover? And especially in the way this disease is taking time and the procedures that are being adopted. I believe that we should be optimistic that the economic situation of the country will improve, it is just that right decisions are taken.

Rahul Gandhi: But most of it works in small and medium industries and businesses. These industries and businesses face cash problems. Many of these businesses may go bankrupt in this crisis. In such a situation, the economic loss of these businesses is directly related to them because many of these businesses give jobs and jobs to these people.

Dr. Banerjee: That is why people like us say that incentive packages should be given. This is what America is doing, this is what Japan and Europe are doing. We have not decided anything yet. We are still only talking about 1% of GDP. The US has given a package equivalent to 10% of GDP. I think we can do it easily for the MSME sector, and it would be right that we can stop debt collection for some time. We can do more than this. We can also say that the repayment of debt for this quarter has been canceled and the government will pay it. So you can do more than this. Instead of just repaying the loan back and forth, it would be right to forgive it. But beyond this, it is not clear whether it is right to target only MSMEs. The need is to increase demand. People should have money in their hands so that they can shop, go to stores, buy consumer goods. MSMEs have many products that people buy, but they are not buying. If they have money and you promise to give money then it is possible. Money is not there. If you are in the red zone, or wherever the lockdown is being removed, then you can spend if you have 10,000 rupees in your account. Spending is the easiest way to revive the economy. Because this will bring money in the hands of MSMEs, they will also spend, and thus a chain will be formed.

Rahul Gandhi: That is, we are talking about NYAY scheme in a way i.e. direct cash transfer which reaches people directly.

Important dialogue between former National President of the Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi and Nobel Prize winning economist Dr. Abhijeet Banerjee on the Corona epidemic, the future economic challenges due to it and how to deal with these economic challenges.

Rahul Gandhi: First of all, thank you very much for your time. You are very busy.

Dr. Banerjee: No ... no ... no more than you.

Rahul Gandhi: It doesn't seem like a little dream that everything is closed.

Dr. Banerjee: Yes, it is like a dream, but frightening, in fact it is such that nobody has any idea what is going to happen next?

Rahul Gandhi: You have children, so how does it feel to see them all?

Dr. Banerjee: My daughter is a bit upset. She wants to go with her friends. My son is young and he is happy that his parents are with him all the time. It is nothing wrong for him.

Rahul Gandhi: But there is also a complete lockdown. So they can't go out?

Dr. Banerjee: No, no, it is not, we can go out. There is no restriction on walking, there is no restriction on cycling and driving. It is just that we cannot go together, maybe it is banned.

Rahul Gandhi: Before I begin, I have an eagerness. You received the Nobel Prize. Did you expect Or did it happen suddenly?

Dr. Banerjee: It was very sudden. I think it is such a thing that if you keep thinking about it, then you sit with it in mind. And I am not a person with things in mind, especially for things that have no immediate effect on my life. I don't expect anything ... It was a surprise for me.

Rahul Gandhi: It was a great thing for India, you have made us proud.

Dr. Banerjee: Thank you ... Yes, that's a big deal. I am not saying that this is not a big deal, I believe that you sit with this in mind, but it is not that there is a process that everyone should understand. So, things happen.

Rahul Gandhi: So one of the important things that I want to discuss with you is the impact of Kovid and lockdown and the economic devastation of poor people. How do we see it? There has been a policy framework in India for some time, especially when we were in the UPA, we used to give poor people a chance, like MNREGA, right to food, etc ... and now this much work was done, bypassing it Is going because the epidemic has come in the middle and millions of people are falling into poverty. This is a big deal ... what to do about it?

Dr. Banerjee: I think it is two different things. In a way, I think that the real problem that immediately arises is that the good policies that the UPA had framed are inadequate at the moment. The government has adopted them in a way. It is not that there was any discriminatory disagreement on this. It is quite clear that UPA policies would work for whatever could have happened.

The difficult task is to do for those who are not part of these policies or schemes. And there are many such people. Especially migrant laborers. The plan that was introduced in the last year of the UPA regime was that Aadhaar should be implemented across the country and used for PDS and other schemes. You will get the benefits of Aadhaar, wherever you are. There is a great need to implement this scheme at this time. If we look back, it could have saved many people from trouble. If this happens, people would go to the local ration shop and show their Aadhaar that I am the beneficiary of PDS. For example, even though I am from Malda or Darbhanga or anywhere, I can take advantage of it in Mumbai. Even if my family lives in Malda or Darbhanga. But here is my claim. And if it did not, then it means that there is no system for many people. They are also not eligible for MNREGA because there is no MNREGA in Mumbai, and could not even be a part of PDS as they are not local residents.

Actually the problem is that while designing the welfare schemes, the thinking was that if someone is not at his place of origin then it is assumed that he is working and he is earning. And that's why this system collapsed.

Rahul Gandhi: I am surprised to see how important environment and trust are to the economy. What I see among the Corona catastrophe is that the issue of trust is the real problem. People do not understand what is going to happen next. There is a fear in the whole system. Talk about unemployment, there is a big problem, there is a large scale unemployment, which is going to be huge now. How do we proceed for unemployment, when we get rid of this crisis, how will we deal with unemployment in the next 2-3 months?

Raghuram Rajan: The figures are very worrying. Looking at the statistics of CMIE, it is found that about 11 crore more people will become unemployed due to Corona crisis. 5 crore people will lose their jobs, about 60 million people will be out of the labor market. You can raise questions on a survey, but we have these figures in front of us and these figures are very broad. This should make us think that we should open the economy by weighing it, but as fast as possible, it will have to be done so fast that people start getting jobs. We do not have the ability to help all classes. We are a relatively poor country, people do not have much savings.

But I ask you a question. We have seen a lot of measures in America and Europe has taken such steps keeping in mind the ground reality. The Government of India has a completely different reality that it is facing. What do you think is the difference between dealing with the situation in the West and India's ground reality?

Rahul Gandhi: First of all scale, the enormity of the problem and the financial system at its core is the problem. Inequality and the nature of inequality. Caste problem, because the system that Indian society is in is completely different from American society. The ideas that are pushing India back are deeply ingrained in society and hidden. In such a situation, I feel that India needs a lot of social change, and this problem is different in every state. The politics of Tamil Nadu, the culture there, the language there, the thinking of the people there is completely different from the people of Uttar Pradesh. In such a situation, you will have to develop arrangements around it. The same formula will not work, cannot work for the whole of India.

Also, our government is completely different from the US, in our system of governance, there is a thinking of control in our administration. We have one DM (District Magistrate) as compared to a producer. We only think about control, people say that it is so since the British era. I do not believe so. I believe this is a system even before the British.

The way of governance in India has always been control and I think that is the biggest challenge before us today. We are unable to control corona disease, so as you said, it has to be stopped.

Another thing that bothers me is inequality. This has been the case in India for many decades. As inequality is in India, it will not be seen in America. So whenever I think, I think how to reduce inequality because when a system reaches its high point then it stops working. You will remember Gandhiji's sentence that go to the end of the line and see what is happening there. This is a big lesson for a leader, it is not used, but I think a lot of things will come out of here.

How do you deal with inequality? This is also visible in the corona crisis. That is, the way India is treating the poor, how are we adopting the attitude of our people? There are two different views about migrant versus thriving. There are two different India. How do you combine these two together?

Raghuram Rajan: See, you know the bottom of the pyramid. We know some ways to improve the lives of the poor, but we have to think carefully so that we can reach everyone. I believe that many governments have worked for food, health, education and better jobs, but the challenges that I feel are administrative challenges. In my view, the big challenge is from lower middle class to middle class. Their needs are jobs, good jobs so that people do not depend on government jobs.

I believe that there is a need to work on this front and in view of this it is necessary to expand the economy. We have seen our economic growth falling over the last few years, despite the fact that we have an army of young workers.

So I would say not just go to the possibilities, but create opportunities that flourish. Even if there have been some mistakes in the past years, this is the way to move forward. Think of the way in which we have progressed successfully, moving into software and outsourcing services. Who could have thought that all this would become India's strength, but all this has come to the fore and some people argue that it came because the government did not pay attention to it. I do not believe so. But we should consider any possibility, give opportunity to the entrepreneurship of the people.

Rahul Gandhi: Thank you, thank you Dr. Rajan

Raghuram Rajan: Thank you very much, nice to talk to you.

Rahul Gandhi: Are you safe?

Raghuram Rajan: I am safe, Goodluck

Rahul Gandhi: Thank you, bye

Raghuram Rajan: I believe that there is a reason behind this and that is the global market. It has become such a belief that if the markets are being globalized, then the firms participating in it also apply the same rules everywhere, they want the same system everywhere, they want the same type of government, because it gives them confidence Increases.

Local or national governments have taken away their rights and powers from the people in an attempt to bring uniformity. Apart from this, there is a craving for bureaucracy that if I can get power, I can get power, then why should I not get it. It is an ever-increasing craving. If you are giving money to the states, then there are some rules that you will get money only after obeying it and not without question you will get money because I know that you have also come by choosing. And you should get a sense of what's right for you.

Rahul Gandhi: These days a new model has arrived, that is the authoritarian or authoritarian model, which questions the liberal model. This is a completely different way of working and it is flourishing in more places. Do you think it will end?

Raghuram Rajan: I don't know. The authoritarian model, a strong personality, a world in which you are powerless, all of this is a very disturbing situation. Especially if you have a connection with that personality. If you think they believe me, they care about people.

The problem with this is that the rightist personality creates a belief in itself that, 'I am the people's power', so whatever I say will be correct. My own rules will apply and there will be no investigation, no institution, no decentralized system. Everything should pass by me.

Looking at the history, it will be known that whenever centralization has taken place to this extent, the systems have collapsed.

Rahul Gandhi: But there is something very wrong with the global economic system. It is clear that this is not working. Is it correct to say so?

Raghuram Rajan: I think it is quite right that it is not working with many people. The uneven distribution of wealth and income in developed countries is certainly a cause for concern. Uncertainty of jobs, the so-called uncertainty is another source of concern. If you have a job today, it is not known whether you will have a source of income tomorrow.

We have seen in this era of epidemic that many people have no employment. Both their income and security have been snuffed out.

Therefore, the situation today is not just a problem of slowing down the growth rate. We cannot just depend on the markets. We have to develop. We are also distressed by the inadequate distribution problem. Whatever development happened, people did not get the results. Many people missed. So we have to think about all this.

That is why I think we have to think about distribution system and distribution opportunities.

Rahul Gandhi: It is interesting when you say that people connect with the infrastructure and they get opportunities but if there are divisive things, hatred that people do not join - it is also a kind of infrastructure. At this time the infrastructure of partition has been erected, the infrastructure of hate has been created, and this is a big problem.

Raghuram Rajan: People benefit from social harmony. People need to feel that they are part of the system. We cannot be a divided house. Especially in such challenging times. So I would like to say that the constitution that our fathers, the nation-makers wrote and the rule given at the beginning, needs to be read and learned afresh. People now feel that there were some issues that were sidelined, but those were the issues that would have been teased, all our time would have been spent fighting each other.

Rahul Gandhi: Apart from this, you divide on one side and when you think about the future, you look back and look at history. What you are saying is right that India needs a new vision. What do you think that should be? Surely you talked about infrastructure, education, health services. How will all this be different from the past 30 years? Which pillar will be different?

Raghuram Rajan: I think you have to develop capabilities first. For this, better education, better health services, better infrastructure is necessary. Remember, when we talk about these abilities, they should also be implemented.

But we also have to think how are our industrial and market systems? Even today, we have the same system as the old License Raj. We have to think how to create such a system in which a lot of good jobs are created. There should be more freedom, more trust and confidence, but it is a good idea to confirm it.

Rahul Gandhi: I am surprised to see how important environment and trust are to the economy. What I see among the Corona catastrophe is that the issue of trust is the real problem. People do not understand what is going to happen next. There is a fear in the whole system. Talk about unemployment, there is a big problem, there is a large scale unemployment, which is going to be huge now. How do we proceed for unemployment, when we get rid of this crisis, how will we deal with unemployment in the next 2-3 months?