Oppn says govt cut off from realities of economic situation
Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday accused the government of being cut off from the ground reality of the economic situation. However, treasury benchers retaliated by urging the Opposition to stop relying on selective facts and planted questions.
During the discussion on the economic situation in the country after MoS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary laid on the table a statement on the Supplementary Demands for Grants 2023-24, Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) alleged the ruling members were only indulging in propaganda and publicity.
“In the per capita GDP index, out of 194 nations, we are at 133. The condition of the common people shows where we stand in the world,” he noted.
Yadav claimed that there is not a single village which has a 100 per cent tap water connection under the government’s much-vaunted ‘Har Ghar Nal’ scheme, and asked how many beneficiaries were able to refill their gas cylinders received under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
Mahesh Jethmalani (BJP) countered the Opposition’s claims that the high growth rate India witnessed has not translated into indicators vital for the poor, such as high employment and low inflation.
Citing data from the periodic labour force survey (PLFS), which former finance minister P Chidambaram had relied on Tuesday to attack the government for driving jobless growth, Jethmalani said post-COVID, urban employment registered a robust V-shaped recovery after the adverse impacts during the lockdown and second wave of the pandemic.
As urban areas were most affected by the pandemic, Jethmalani said, “The complete recovery in employment in urban areas is crucial. From 2017-18 to 2019-20, regular wage/salaried employees increased by 1.5 crore, a growth of 13.2 per cent. The rise among females was 0.72 crore or 29.4 per cent and that for males 0.79 crore or 8.8 per cent, he added.
Fauzia Khan (NCP) retorted, highlighting the escalating unemployment crisis in India, particularly the dearth of government jobs, and said a huge number of youth are either getting into crimes or committing suicide due to a lack of
employment opportunities.
