Rewa (Madhya Pradesh), May 3 (IANS): Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the Congress's NYAY scheme will improve the country's economy and will work as petrol or diesel for the "economic engine".

Gandhi was addressing a public gathering in Rewa parliamentary constituency. "Around 12,000 small industries had to face shut down due to demonetisation and gabbar singh tax (GST). This happened because Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked up money from your pockets," he said, adding that before this the economy was running smoothly, shops had business, industries had work. But when Modi came to power, he picked money from people's pockets and gave it to industrialists.

"To justify the demonetisation he had said that it was a fight against black money and corruption, and forced you to stand in queues, thereafter, he gave Rs 35,000 crore to Nirav Modi, Rs 10,000 crore to Vijay Mallya," said Gandhi.

The Congress President further said: "As people lost all the money during note-ban, they were unable to buy raw material that resulted in the shut down of factories and shops. Thereafter, youth were sacked from their jobs."

"Today, around 27,000 youths are losing their jobs in every 24 hours," he said.

He said: "No vehicle can be started without petrol, diesel. By implementing the GST and demonetisation Modi had withdrawn fuel from country's engine. Now, NYAY will be the first step to restart India's economy. Besides the poor, traders, youth and farmers will also receive benefits through this scheme."