The Congress has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise to the people of the country for the loss of jobs and setback to the economy due to the decision to demonetise high-value notes in November 2016.

The Centre has lost its credibility and Modi should own up to his mistakes, the party said.

Referring to Modi’s speech on November 14, that he is ready to appear in any corner of the country to receive punishment if any faults appear in his intentions, deputy leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, asked: “Has he accepted any chauraha (corner) to receive the punishment?” He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Vichaar Vibhaag of the AICC here on Thursday .

Sharma said Modi is guilty of breaking the confidence of people in savings, in the banking system and in the economic institutions of the country. “This decision did not only wreck the economy, it took away millions of jobs from the people,” he said. The government data itself reflected a loss of 1.5 million jobs in the organised sector, but the situation is worse in the unorganised sector, he added.

The Congress leader further said 92.8 per cent of the allocated funds for various departments have already been used by August 31. “It is now impossible to cross October-November,” he claimed.

Calling the PM a “megalomaniac”, he asked: “What is the economic wisdom behind this reckless decision and how can this be justified?”

The former Commerce Minister also said the international agencies will soon downgrade our banks. The country is sitting on a volcano as the number of unemployed youth is increasing and the Centre is not acting to help them find jobs, he added. “Instead of creating jobs, the government is destroying jobs. The culprit behind creating such a situation is the Government of India,” he said.