UDAIPUR/BENGALURU: Coming down hard on the Union government over the state of the Indian economy, Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah said the country’s financial situation was deteriorating day by day. “The government has resorted to a vicious attempt to manipulate figures so that people do not know the facts.
The Planning Commission was abolished and the NITI Aayog was constituted. The task of this NITI Aayog is to prepare the figures required by the central government or the BJP government. The Central government has stopped conducting surveys which are to be conducted fairly,” he said at the Congress’ brainstorming session in Udaipur, Rajasthan, on Sunday.
Giving examples, he said the National Sample Survey Office has stopped conducting surveys. It surveyed issues such as employment and presented the facts to governments. The surveys of this institution have been stopped altogether. In 2017- 18, the survey was suggested to be conducted.
The agency also conducted a survey, but as soon as it came to know that it was a complete contradiction to the functioning of the government, the Modi government ensured that the survey was not released. The report was to indicate that the situation in the country was heading towards extreme distress, he added.
“Unless people properly understand the country’s current economic situation and raise their voices, there is no possibility of the country recovering. The central government’s monetary policy is ruining the economy of the states and weakening the federal system.
The debt of all the states in the country stood at Rs 24.71 lakh crore as of March 2014, but by March 2022, it crossed Rs 70 lakh crore. If the loans made in 2022 are included, this amount will be around Rs 80 lakh crore,” Siddaramaiah said. He claimed that the fiscal deficit of states is also increasing and explained that from 2012- 17, till demonetisation, only four of 14 major states were facing the problem of fiscal deficit. In 2021-22, except for two states, all other states are facing the problem of fiscal deficit.