Growth rate data mask people’s Plight: Lok Satta

The reported increase in the State’s GDP (gross domestic product) and per capita income during 2010-11 is not a matter to gloat about since Andhra Pradesh continues to be at the bottom of the ladder in the human development index, commented Lok Satta Party Working President D. V. V. S. Varma and Secretary P. Bhaskara Rao today.

In a media statement, they recalled that Andhra Pradesh lags behind many large States in sectors like education, healthcare, and employment.

According to media reports, the per capita income in the State stood at Rs.60,458 and the growth rate in the State’s GDP at 9.22 percent during 2010-11. Agriculture registered a growth rate of 9.10 percent.

The Lok Satta leaders pointed out that a higher rate of growth in agriculture does not necessarily mean that farmers are better off. On the contrary, the condition of farmers has worsened in recent years. The per capita income of farmers is one-fourth of the State’s per capita income.

The Lok Satta leaders demanded that the Government publish data on the growth (or lack of it) in the farmer’s income, as suggested by the Swaminathan Commission.

Mr. Varma and Mr. Bhaskara Rao wanted the Government to return the 972 acres of land it had acquired for Nagarjuna Construction’s thermal power project to farmers in the wake of the High Court suspending the concerned Government order.