New Delhi, 02 September (H.S.): The Congress on Wednesday questioned the government’s claim of 7.8 per cent GDP growth, citing former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s assessment that actual GDP growth is around 2.6 per cent. The party alleged that the government was attempting to paint a rosier picture of the economy through statistical manipulation, even as the ground reality tells a different story.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh said in a post on social media platform X on Wednesday that the more the Modi government beats the drum over what he called fake GDP growth through its team and the media, the more its reality would be exposed. He said former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg had raised serious questions over the claim and estimated that actual GDP growth was around 2.6 per cent instead of 7.8 per cent.

He said the Congress wants the country’s economy to become genuinely stronger, but the path to a robust economy does not lie in dressing up statistics; rather, it begins with acknowledging the actual situation. The government should first accept the true state of the economy and then take steps towards reforms, he said.

Ramesh said the government should focus on creating employment opportunities for young people, promoting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and private investment, and increasing demand and incomes. At the same time, there is a need to reduce economic inequality and ensure fair competition instead of favouring a select group of industrialists, he said.

He said the government must understand that public relations may be used to present a brighter picture of GDP, but that alone cannot strengthen the economy. The GDP growth rate over which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is urging citizens to celebrate by bursting firecrackers and observing Diwali is the very figure that his former Finance Secretary is questioning seriously, Ramesh said.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar