GDP numbers, Jairam Ramesh cited the example of China where, instead of economic growth, three indicators -- train freight, bank credit and power consumption -- are used as basis for taking stock of the economy.
GDP numbers, Jairam Ramesh cited the example of China where, instead of economic growth, three indicators -- train freight, bank credit and power consumption -- are used as basis for taking stock of the economy.
The Congress leader said that on the basis of these three indicators, the condition of Indian economy is not good.
He said the GDP growth has slowed down to the lowest level in last 14 years which has affected the investors' sentiments.
Talking about the impact of note ban, he said the demand and investments had slowed down and it was mainly due to less consumption and meager investments on account of cash crunch.
He said the Assembly election results do not mean that the impact of demonetisation is negated.
Ramesh also raised doubts over the government's claim over note ban impact on the blackmoney.
He also said that the Centre has not done any favour by giving 42 per cent share of revenue to the states on the recommendation of the Fourteenth Finance Commission.
He said that despite higher share of taxes for states, they have not increased their expenditure on social sector schemes and other sectors like health and education.
Talking about Aadhaar, he said the Unique Identification (UID) number is a means to identify people and not for giving bulk benefits like in the case of mid day meal.
"Asking for Aadhaar for mid day meal is a mockery of the entire Aadhaar scheme which is meant for weeding out duplicate persons to plug leakages," the Congress leader said.
He also stressed the need for using Aadhaar as voluntary means for people to identify themselves for various facilitates and benefits rather than making it mandatory.
Harivansh (JDU) said the government was "the prisoner" of its "own populist promises" made during the elections.
Talking about globalisation, he said this is clear from the rise of Donald Trump in the US that globalisation has not benifitted all.
He said the budget does not seem to address the regional economic imbalance and disparities in incomes due to globalisation.
He drew the government's attention to the need for creating employment as over one million youngsters enter the job market every year.
The rate of unemployment is around five per cent and the number unemployed would soon touch 14 crore in the country, he said, adding that the Budget is silent on measures to address this issue.
Ajay Sancheti (BJP) said demonetisation has had positive impact on the economy as reflected in the recent assembly elections. (MORE)
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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