F00-Indian Economy

The government uses the budget to show that the economy is doing well in spite of difficulties and that the citizens’ problems will be taken care of. For this data is selectively presented. Since the full picture is not revealed, analysts have to go behind the numbers presented to reveal the actual situation of the economy. So, while the establishment economists praise the budget the critics present the realistic situation and therein lies the importance of the alternative elucidation. https://thewire.in/macro/an-alternative-economic-survey This problem is compounded by a) the non-availability of crucial data and b) its manipulation. For instance, Census 2021 is awaited. The pandemic abated after early 2022 and most nations have conducted their Census, but the process has not been started in India. Data on employment, agriculture output, unorganised sector, poverty, inequality, etc. are manipulated. For instance, the declining unorganised sector has been largely proxied by the growing organised sector. This gives an upward bias to Gross Domestic Product and its growth resulting in the paradox of the high official economic growth accompanying high unemployment and price rise. The claim that multi-dimensional poverty declined in 2020-21, when the adverse impact of the pandemic was at its peak, is hard to accept. This false claim was projected to show that 24 crore people were pulled out of Multi-dimensional poverty between 2014 and 2024. The official data is partial and manipulated to mask adversity. That is why an alternative picture needs to be sketched which captures the reality of growing economic, political and social instability in the country and rising strife. by Arun Kumar