Economic Survey a 'cherry-picked view', hope Union Budget 2024 will address 'realities': Congress

India is in its most precarious and difficult economic situation in many years, it said.

New Delhi: Congress on Monday described the Economic Survey as a "cherry-picked view" of the economy that does its best to present an "all is well rosy picture" while expressing hope that the Budget will have proposals that address the country's "realities".

In a statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said that it must have been a "difficult document" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s "spin masters" to produce as the economic situation is “so desperate that some harsh facts” come through anyway.

He said the Economic Survey has flagged that the country must create nearly 80 lakh jobs each year for the next 20 years. He also said that “manufacturing sector employment creation has been subdued in the past decade”, despite the “hype and hoopla” of 'Make in India'.

“What is not said, however, is that the Union government’s current strategy is entirely reliant on data manipulation and 'pakodanomics'. Achieving the 80 lakh job target requires a decided shift in the government’s larger economic strategy,” he said.

Alleging that the Economic Survey would not be a Modi government document “without some completely ridiculous lies”, he said, “The most shameful of them all, however, is the astounding claim that abject poverty has all but been eliminated.”

Ramesh said that half of all Indians cannot even afford three meals per day, one in three children are stunted, one in four children are not fully immunised and approximately two-thirds is reliant on free food grains provided under the National Food Security Act

“India is in its most precarious and difficult economic situation in many years. The Economic Survey might present a cherry-picked view of the economy, but we hope that tomorrow’s Budget faces up to the country’s realities,” he said, adding that if Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was looking for ideas, she could look at Congress manifesto ‘Nyay Patra 2024’.

"The Economic Survey showed that the food inflation remains unchecked, while economic recovery after Covid-19 has been deeply unequal. The housing sector has now declined to 2013 levels, while trade policy failure has contributed to the decimation of manufacturing capabilities," he said.

Ramesh also said that the Modi government’s “anti-farmer mindset” is called out in the Economic Survey. He alleged that the abuse of the import-export policy with “unplanned and unjustified” export bans and "floods of cheap imports" has been flagged as debilitating farmer incomes.

He also claimed that the Economic Survey admitted the government’s "failure" on private investment generation. He said the government’s approach to the corporate sector has been to give generous handouts like Rs 1.5 lakh crore corporate tax cut and Rs 2 lakh crore PLI and without directly incentivising investment or hiring.

“Thus, while the SOPs have contributed to record profitmaking, private investment has not risen,” he said adding that the Economic Survey has flagged India’s slow pace of investment in M&E and IP Products as affecting manufacturing growth and formal employment growth.

“Even Research and Development, which is essential for our long-term growth and investment, has flatlined. It is lower as a percentage of GDP today than in 2014, when Manmohan Singh left office,” he said.