'Matter Of Shame,' Opposition Attacks Govt As India's First Quarter GDP Contracts 23.9%

The Government of India on Monday released the estimates of GDP for the first quarter of 2020-21 (April-June period) as per which, country's GDP contracted 23.9 per cent.

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The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday released the estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2020-21, i.e. April-June period, as per which, country's GDP contracted 23.9 per cent. The readings revealed by the National Statistical Office (NSO) of Government of India showed that GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q1 of 2020-21 is estimated at ` 26.90 lakh crore, as against ` 35.35 lakh crore in Q1 of 2019-20. It showed a contraction of 23.9 per cent as compared to 5.2 per cent growth in Q1 2019-20. Reacting at the development, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the centre citing his previous warnings to the government on India's economic situation. Taking to his official Twitter handle this evening, the former chief of grand old party shared his old video from March where he warned the central government of the "upcoming economic tsunami". Along with the video, Gandhi posted the caption which read, "GDP reduces by 24%. The worst in Independent India's history. Unfortunately, the Govt ignored the warnings."

Beside Gandhi, former union finance minister P Chidambaram has also expressed his concerns in wake of the declined GDP of India. Referring to the recent remarks made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over present condition of Indian economy, Chidambaram in a virtual conference on Monday said, "The Finance Minister who blamed an 'Act of God' for the economic decline should be grateful to the farmers and the gods who blessed the farmers."He termed the downfall as a "matter of shame." It can be recalled that several restrictions were imposed on the economic activities (except some essential goods and services), as also on the movement of people after since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown from 25 March, 2020 in view to contain spread of COVID-19. Though the restrictions have been gradually lifted in phased manner, there has been an impact on the economic activities as well as on the data collection mechanisms. The timelines for filing statutory returns were also extended by most regulatory bodies. In these circumstances, the usual data sources were substituted by alternatives like GST, interactions with professional bodies etc. and which were clearly limited.