Oppn attacks govt for handling of economy

The Opposition today slammed the government for its handling of the economy and said achieving growth targets, particularly in agriculture, will be "a miracle".     

Attacking the UPA government for not achieving targets set during the five years of its previous tenure, they said the UPA-II had set 4 per cent growth rate for Agriculture, which was quite ambitious.     

Initiating the debate on the General Budget for 2009-10, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi added, "You have set a 9 per cent economic growth target and a 4 per cent growth target for agriculture. It is an ambitious target. If you ensure this, it will be a miracle."

Joshi, however, offered his party's help to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in bringing the economy on the right track to help farmers and agriculture reach their pinnacle of growth.    

"If you need any assistance to bring the economy on the right track for helping farmers and restoring the position of agriculture to where it was, we are ready to help," he said.     

Quoting from an April 2008 Reserve Bank of India report, the leader said the slowdown in agriculture sector had begun in 1991, when economy was liberalised, and the growth rate, previously achieved since Independence, had slowed down.

"The entire economy is dependent on agriculture. But the situation in the sector is alarming," Joshi opined, elaborating that there had been a considerable decrease in manpower, farming land and water availability, resulting in food grain production going down drastically.     

He said the lack of profit in agriculture had led to several farmers quiting the sector and migrating to the cities in search of livelihood.

Urging the government to give a serious thought to dying water bodies, the BJP leader said about 50 per cent of the water bodies had gone dry.     

Joshi added the government should give details of what it had done in the last five years for reviving the water bodies.     

Noting that the government had allocated just about one per cent of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) as Plan outlay for agriculture sector, Joshi wondered how the 4 per cent target would be achieved with such limited funds.     

He also wanted the government to concentrate on the impact of climate change, drinking water supply, health and family welfare, and poverty alleviation.     

Regretting that a World Bank report had placed India only above sub-Saharan countries in development index, he said the government should ensure proper implementation of NREGA in rural areas to eradicate poverty.