Congress on Monday slammed the government after it released the Economic Survey saying it presented a “cherry-picked” view of the economy and claimed that India is experiencing its “most precarious and difficult” economic situation in many years.
Congress general secretary and communications in charge Jairam Ramesh in a statement said, “The Economic Survey of 2023-24, released in advance of tomorrow’s Budget, must have been a difficult document for the non-biological Prime Minister’s spin doctors to produce.”
His remarks came after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the Economic Survey 2023-24, along with the statistical appendix, in the Lok Sabha.
The Economic Survey is an annual document presented by the government ahead of the Union Budget to review the state of the economy.
Targeting the government, Ramesh said: “It does its best to present an ‘all is well’ rosy picture of the economy. Unfortunately for the Prime Minister and for the people of India, the economic situation is so desperate that some harsh facts come through anyway.”
The Congress Rajya Sabha MP said that food inflation remains unchecked, at nearly 10 per cent per year and prices of specific foods are growing at a rapid pace – cereals at 11 per cent, vegetables at 15 per cent, spices at 19 per cent, milk at 7 per cent.
He said that it is the poor and middle class who are worst affected by this. Ramesh also pointed out that economic recovery after COVID has been deeply unequal.
“Rural India has been left behind. Sales of two-wheelers in rural areas, one of the leading indicators of consumer demand and economic growth, are still lower than they were in 2018. The Modi government’s anti-farmer mindset is called out in the Economic Survey. Its abuse of import-export policy with unplanned and unjustified export bans and floods of cheap imports has been flagged for debilitating farmer incomes. Wheat, paddy, pulses, onion, sugar, and edible oils – no farmer has been spared by the whimsy of the Government’s policymaking,” the Congress leader said.
Ramesh also took a pot shot at the government and highlighted that the failure of trade policy has also contributed to the decimation of India’s manufacturing capabilities.
“Since 2014, the percentage of imports from China has risen from 11 per cent of overall imports to 16 per cent,” he said, adding that the uncontrolled dumping of these imports has rendered domestic MSMEs uncompetitive, forcing them to shut down.
The failure of the trade policy has also contributed to the decimation of India’s manufacturing capabilities, he claimed.
“Housing, a critical sector, has also done poorly. In 2023, residential real estate sales in India are only now reaching back to the levels witnessed in 2013,” he said.
Ramesh claimed that the Economic Survey virtually admits the failure of the Centre’s policymaking with regard to generating private investment.
“The Modi government’s approach to the corporate sector has been to give generous handouts — like the Rs 1.5 lakh crore corporate tax cut and the Rs 2 lakh crore PLI — without directly incentivising investment or hiring,” he said.
Thus, while the sops have contributed to record profit-making, private investment has not risen, Ramesh said.
“According to the economic survey, private sector GFCF in machinery and equipment and intellectual property products has grown cumulatively by only 35 per cent in the four years to FY23…. This is not a healthy mix,” he said.
The Congress leader said the Economic Survey has flagged India’s “slow pace of investment in M&E and IP Products” affecting manufacturing growth and formal employment growth.
Even research and development, essential for long-term growth and investment, has flat-lined, he claimed.
It is lower as a percentage of the GDP today than in 2014 when Manmohan Singh left the Prime Minister’s Office, he said.
The Congress leader said the Economic Survey has flagged India’s “slow pace of investment in M&E and IP Products” affecting manufacturing growth and formal employment growth.
Even research and development, essential for long-term growth and investment, has flat-lined, he claimed.
Ramesh then said, “What is not said, however, is that the Union government’s current strategy is entirely reliant on data manipulation and pakodanomics. Achieving the 80 lakhs job target requires a decided shift in the government’s larger economic strategy.
“The Economic Survey would not be a Modi government document without some completely ridiculous lies. The most shameful of them all, however, is the astounding claim that ‘abject poverty has all but been eliminated’,” he said
“A reality check: half of all Indians cannot even afford three meals per day. One in three children is stunted and one in four children is not fully immunised, according to the NFHS-5,” Ramesh added.
Approximately two-thirds of the country is reliant on free foodgrains provided under the National Food Security Act, he pointed out.
“India is in its most precarious and difficult economic situation in many years. The Economic Survey might present a cherry-picked view of the economy, but we hope that tomorrow’s Budget faces up to the country’s realities,” the Congress leader said.
“If the Finance Ministry is still looking for ideas, we would point them to the Indian National Congress’s Nyay Patra 2024. The need of the hour is a right to apprenticeship, protections for gig workers and unorganised sector workers, minimum wage hikes to Rs 400 per day, an end to tax terrorism and an expansion of social-protection schemes like anganwadis,” he said.