Congress zeroes in on growth numbers as polls near

As the Congress gets into election mode,it is gathering data on the governments economic achievements.

As the Congress gets into election mode,it is gathering data on the governments economic achievements. Congress Partys media manager M Veerappa Moily recently met Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia for information on the performance of the government. Sources say the party believes the governments achievements could not be undermined by global developments as enough has been done for the welfare of the middle and lower sections of the society.

For example,the presentation given to Moily,while delving on the rural economy,pointed out that the minimum support price of wheat in the governments four-year term had been pushed up from Rs 630 per quintal to Rs 1,000 for wheat while during the same period paddy support price also had gone up to Rs 900 per quintal from just Rs 550. To back up its argument,it added that during the same period agriculture credit had gone up from Rs 85,000 crore to Rs 2,43,000 crore an increase of 179.31 crore. In addition,the UPA has to its credit loan waiver of Rs 65,000 crore which has benefitted 3.6 crore farmers.

The claim is further backed by the production figures for the same period,which have shown an increase of 17.48 million tonnes between 2003 and 2008. According to data,even milk and milk products and fruit and vegetable production have registered massive improvement in production. In fact,milk production has gone up from Rs 1,00,821 to 1,20,098 crore while fruit and vegetables have shown an increase of Rs 30,976 crore.

The presentation,which basically supplements Planning Commissions focus on inclusive growth,also indicates that rural population that constitutes over 60 per cent of the total population has benefited substantially from the governments stimulus packages hitherto announced.

The presentation shows that even in cost-intensive areas such as irrigation where traditionally projects were shifting from plan to plan,progress has been substantial. From just 7,80,000 hectares of irrigation potential in four years,it has gone up to 66,00,000 hectares. It says that 2,18,286 habitations have been provided drinking water in rural areas whereas at the time of forming the government the number was just a little over 35,000.

According to sources,the presentation focussed on the national common minimum programme including the ambitious flagship programme Bharat Nirman and other growth-oriented schemes.