New data with Central Statistical Organisation suggest, Gujarat growth rate worse than 16 major states

Growth rate in 2012-13 at current prices. Source: CSO

By A Representative
New revised data handed over to the Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Government of India, by all state governments, and in possession of Counterview, suggest that Gujarat’s growth rate for 2012-13 was 12.69 per cent (at current prices, without deducting inflation) as against 9.52 per cent, as earlier reported on the basis of Planning Commission data (click HERE). Even then, the data suggest that Gujarat’s performance was worse than as many as 16 out of 20 major Indian states, and better than just three states -- Assam (12.56 per cent), Punjab (11.85 per cent), and Tamil Nadu (11.90 per cent). The Gujarat government has not released its data yet.
The states which had a better growth rate than Gujarat are Andhra Pradesh (13.86 per cent), Bihar (26.96 per cent), Chhattisgarh (15.62 per cent), Haryana (14.33 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (13.48 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (14.93 per cent), Jharkhand (14.58 per cent), Karnataka (14.30 per cent), Kerala (13.46 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (19.41 per cent), Maharashtra (14.43 per cent), Odisha (19.05 per cent), Rajasthan (13.83 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (13.24 per cent), Uttarakhand (16.68 per cent), and West Bengal (15.23 per cent).”
The only “consolation” for Gujarat is that it is not the “worst” – and has "managed to defeat” three major states in the race for growth rate, one of whom is a poor state, Assam, and the other two are Punjab and Tamil Nadu. Yet, if the data handed over to the CSO are any indication, even after following this “revision” by most states, the Gujarat government has refused to hand over the advanced estimate (AE) for 2013-14, though large number of states have already done it. Last year, the AE for 2012-13 was released in February 2013. “Only a top ex-official of state planning department, known for his skills in handling data, should know why”, a senior official told Counterview.
Insiders say, instead of revising data upwards, which most states have done, Gujarat officials were to forced to “manipulate” its data downwards for two years (2010-11 and 2011-12) in order to show that Gujarat’s growth rate in 2012-13 was as not the worst in India, but was a better “somewhat better.” A senior official, requesting anonymity, told Counteview, Gujarat’s “manipulation happened in February 2014”, after it was “internally found” that the growth rate worked out by the state planning department suggested a mere 9.52 per cent rise at current prices, lowest in India.
The exercise in “adjusting” data continued for quite some. A former additional chief secretary, Government of Gujarat, known for his economic skills, allegedly supervised the exercise. The national Planning Commission had been asking for current price data from Gujarat officials for 2012-13 data, but it refused to part with it for entire last year. The result was, while all states handed over 2012-13 data, found reflected in August 2013 Planning Commission documents, Gujarat government did not.
The data Gujarat government, handed over to the CSO, which have still not been reflected in the Planning Commission site, suggest how Gujarat revised downwards growth rates for 2010-11 and 2011-12 to give an “even picture of balanced growth" for the past three years. “The result is that, now there are two set of data – one on the Planning Commission website, and another, those that have been handed over to the CSO, but not reflected on the official Gujarat government website, as still the growth rate would be worse than most states, problematic in a poll year”, this official said.
The Planning Commission-approved data suggest that Gujarat’s growth rate for 2010-11 was Rs 530,430 crore, and for 2011-12 Rs 611,767 crore. The revised data “handed over” to the CSO were Rs 521,519 crore and Rs 594,563 crore respectively. The result was, while the Planning Commission data suggested a growth rate of 22.99 per cent in 2010-11 and 15.33 per cent in 2011-12, following the new update, the growth rate for both the years went down to 20.93 per cent and 14.01 per cent, which wasn’t bad enough to show that Gujarat grew relatively better three years and better than a few states.
“The manipulation has helped increase the growth rate for 2012-13 from 9.52 per cent to 12.69 per cent”, the official said, adding, “There is a failure to understand in many quarters that if the 2012-13 data (Rs 670,017 crore, released by state finance minister Nitin Patel during his budget speech in Gujarat state assembly) are calculated against the Planning Commission data for 2011-12 (Rs 597,573), the growth rate would be 9.52 per cent. But if this is calculated against the data handed over to the CSO, the growth rate for 2012-13 would be 12.69 per cent”, the official said.

Comments

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar* “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

'Violation of Apex Court order': Delhi authorities blamed for dog-bite incidents at JLN Stadium

By A Representative People for Animals (PFA), led by Ms. Ambika Shukla, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the recent dog-bite incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, accusing it of violating Supreme Court directions regarding community dogs. The organisation’s on-ground fact-finding mission met stadium authorities and the two affected coaches to verify details surrounding the incidents, both of which occurred on October 3.

Counterview

Search This Blog