Sushil takes on Bihar government for growth rate fall

Patna, Aug 10: Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today criticised the Nitish Kumar government for the sharp fall in Bihar's growth rate and for questioning the Central Statistical Organization over compilation of the growth data in order to deflect attention from bad financial condition of the state.

"It's a matter of concern that Bihar's growth rate has declined to 7.14 percent in 2015-16 against the corresponding figure of 13.02 per cent in 2014-15 on the price base of 2011-12 which is the lowest in the past decade," he said in a statement.

Even the growth rate of Bihar's GSDP has gone down sharply at 10.59 per cent in 2015-16 against 17.92 per cent a year ago on the current price base, Modi said.

Bihar's growth rate has taken a tumble in 2015-16 even as the neighbouring Jharkhand has done well by clocking a 12.14 growth rate, the senior BJP leader said and criticised the state government for trying to brazen out with the CSO by questioning the formula that it used to arrive at the growth rate figure of the state.

"The state government should know that the CSO is an autonomous body which collects three-fourth data from independent sources and one-fourth from budget and other official documents of the states....by raising a question mark on the central agency, the state government has only invite ridicule," said Modi, a former deputy chief minister.

Observing that Bihar's financial health is witnessing a steady decline, he said that the Nitish Kumar government was consumed by politics and prohibition even as the state is falling on various yardsticks of development in recent years.

PTI