Indian economy under NDA Govt struggling, not galloping: Cong

New Delhi, Jan 4: Slamming the claims by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India being the fastest growing economy in the world, the Congress on Thursday said the Indian economy under the rule of the NDA was struggling, not galloping as is been claimed.

Initiating a short duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the state of the economy, investment climate and job creation in the country, and the need to address the challenges of rising unemployment, Anand Sharma of the Congress said,'contrary to the claims by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian economy is not a galloping economy but a struggling one.' 
'There are four engines of growth of the Indian economy — investment, jobs, exports and credit. Not even a single engine has been working. The national investment rate has fallen by more than seven per cent, from 31 per cent to 24 per cent. National Savings Rate has fallen. Further, there is a sharp increase in debt to GDP ratio. The job creation has also fallen.'
This, he said was in sharp contrast with the Indian economy under the previous UPA government.
Mr Sharma said despite a slowdown in the economy during the last year-and-a-half of the UPA Government, the average growth during ten years of the UPA was 7.8 per cent.
'Even during the period of slowdown, we managed a GDP of 6.2 per cent. Today it is in a dismal situation. Merchandise exports are down. However, you cannot blame the global situation. Trade has grown in ASEAN nations. The only inference is your manufacturing jobs have been lost,' Mr Sharma said.
He said though the Government had been falsely claiming in the international fora that India is the fastest growing economy of the world, the various parameters of the economy showed a decline.
He said the only saving grace during the present regime was a sharp fall in international crude prices. However, he charged the NDA government with failing to pass on the drop in crude prices to the Indian consumer.
'The only saving grace of this government is the fall in the crude oil rate. However, you haven't passed on the benefits to the consumers,' he said.
Attacking the Government for its decision to demonetise old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000, Mr Sharma said contrary to the claims made by the Prime Minister that demonetisation would help to curb black money, tackle corruption and fake currency, none of these objectives could be met.
'When demonetisation was announced, the PM said black money would be curbed, counterfeit currency would end, corruption would end, and terror funding will end.
'However, none of these objectives were met. The Reserve Bank of India has said 99 per cent of the currency has been deposited in the banks,' he said.
He said the warning by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that demonetisation would bring down GDP by two per cent had turned out to be true.
'When the former Prime Minister said the note ban would affect the GDP by two per cent, you were not ready to take our suggestions,' he said.
He charged the Government with dealing a double blow to the economy through its twin decisions of demonetisaiton and the faulty implementation of the goods and services tax.
'We had suggested a three-month trial of GST but you rolled it out on a midnight. The GST has destroyed the economy. So many industries broke down due to GST. Your decisions have affected the unorganised sector the most. 
There has been almost a 33 per cent drop in employment in the MSMEs sector due to GST,' he said. 
He wanted to know if the finance ministers had a future vision to bring the economy back on track.
Bhupinder Yadav of the BJP, however, said the previous UPA government was plagued with policy paralysis.
He wanted to know why a Bill like the Insolvency and the Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill not brought by the previous UPA government.
'This government has taken the country from a situation of policy paralysis to restore faith of people in the Indian economy,' he said. UNI