Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has questioned the authenticity of the state's economic survey and criticised the BJP-led government for "tampering numbers."
The state Monsoon Assembly began on Monday with the economic survey of Budget 2018-2019 being presented. It shows that the advance estimates of Maharashtra's economy are expected to grow by 7.5 per cent during 2018-2019, while the Indian economy is expected to grow by 6.8 per cent.
The agriculture and allied activities sector is expected to grow by 0.4 per cent during 2018-2019 due to less rain (73.6 per cent of the normal monsoon).
Talking about the survey, Chavan told ANI, "There is a debate in the country on economic growth and the article by Arvind Subramanian has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has raised the number of economic growth. It is applicable to Maharashtra also. The numbers which are printed in the economic survey report has also risen, which is a matter to be debated. It is very unbelievable that the government is changing the numbers of the report."
"In the last economic survey report, the government said that due to drought situations, Maharashtra's agriculture growth rate has decreased by 8.3 per cent. But in this report, it shows that the growth has increased. We understand that marginal numbers can increase but if they have increased the numbers from minus 8.3 to plus 8.3 per cent, so a question on the authenticity must be raised," he added.
Chavan went on to add, "Yes we know it will be election-oriented budget, you can announce whatever you want, but why are you tampering the numbers of the economic survey report. Whether it's infrastructure or unemployment numbers, nothing has been said in this report about unemployment in the state.