Growth declined, poverty increased in Gujarat under Modi

MUMBAI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has based his pitch for the prime minister’s job on the state’s performance since he has been at its helm, but that theory has been widely disputed. Now Hemantkumar Shah, an economics professor at Gujarat University, has challenged Modi’s claim of dramatic economic growth. He said data reveals the state’s economic and human development parameters worsened under Modi.

In his book ‘Sacchai Gujarat Ki,’ Shah has said Gujarat’s growth rate actually declined during the time that Modi has been in power. “Gujarat’s annual average growth rate (AAGR) was 14.97% during 1980-1990 and 12.77% during 1990-2000, way higher than the national average of 5.5%. Between 2001-11, the AAGR plummeted to 9.82%, only 1.26% more than the national average,” argued Shah.

“While Gujarat’s budget increased from Rs 28,000 crore in 2001 to Rs 1,20,000 crore in 2013-14, public debt during the same period increased from Rs 26,000 crore to Rs 1,68,000 crore,” said Shah. He claimed Modi has hypnotized and mesmerized people into believing in his growth model, and virtually demolished the BJP. “There is no BJP. Modi is the state,” claimed Shah.

Shah, who studied government data, RTI data and international reports, said while there were 26.19 lakh BPL families in Gujarat in 1999, their number is now 40 lakh according to a government ad aired on FM radio in January 2014.

“The UNDP’s multi-dimensional poverty index 2010 shows 41.5% of the state’s population lives in poverty, while CAG reports from 2001-2012/13 show corruption to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The state took nine years to appoint a Lok Ayukta,” he added.

His study also points to a drop-out rate of 29.5% after Class V and 43% before Class X, while 47% women and 43% children under the age of five years were under-nourished.

“Over 5,500 farmers in the last 10 years have committed suicide in the state but police have been instructed not to register cases,” claimed Shah.

As for the controversial Narmada Dam, Shah said sub-canals that should carry water to farms have not been constructed, so water from the dam travels halfway across Gujarat and then ends up in the Arabian Sea.

“Without declaring emergency, Gujarat is in a state of emergency,” said Shah, adding that dissenting voices were being drowned out in the state.