Misleading data\' on farmer\'s crisis, economic survey: Former CM on Maharashtra Budget

Mumbai: Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders held a protest at Maharash Assembly over the issue of farm loan waiver and state government policies.

"The current government did not do much for the farmers, they have presented misleading statistics and data regarding farmer's crisis and today we are holding this protest to support the farmers. It's high time, the government should stop tampering numbers and bring out accurate data," former chief minister of Maharashtra and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan.

"We mentioned in the Congress manifesto to waive the outstanding loans of farmers, that's another major reason to hold this protest. The government should consider this key point and work in this direction" he added.

The Monsoon session of state assembly began on Monday with the economic survey of Budget 2018-2019 being presented. It shows that the advance estimates of Maharashtra's economy are expected to grow by 7.5 per cent during 2018-2019, while the Indian economy is expected to grow by 6.8 per cent.

The agriculture and allied activities sector is expected to grow by 0.4 per cent during 2018-2019 due to less rain (73.6 per cent of the normal monsoon).

NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said the government "juggled" with Maharashtra's Economic Survey data. They have been in power since the past five years; they should clearly present accurate figures in front of the general public.

"Yes we know it will be election-oriented budget, you can announce whatever you want, but why are you tampering the numbers of the economic survey report. Whether it's infrastructure or unemployment numbers, nothing has been said in this report about unemployment in the state. What about the recent numbers which came from the central government stating that the level of unemployment is an all-time high in the past 45 years?" Chavan asked.