Increased pressure on Modi government to issue NSO report on purchasing power

New delhi date. November 22, 2019, Friday

214 anthropologists from across the country and the world, including Nobel laureate Angus Deaton, French economist Thomas Piketty and former member of the Planning Commission (now the Policy Commission), have demanded the Modi government of the Center to issue a survey of the National Statistics Office (NSO).

This demand has been made after reports of the leak in the media surfaced. According to the leaked report, the purchasing power of consumers in India has reached a 45-year low.

It is worth mentioning that a few days ago, the Business Standard newspaper claimed that the NSONO report was leaked to us and that accordingly, purchasing power has declined the lowest since 1973 in FY 2017-18.

All these economists have issued a statement demanding that all surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization, including the 75th consumer expenditure, be issued immediately. Economists have alleged that the Modi government is not releasing the report because the survey may increase their difficulty during the economic slowdown. The purchasing power survey is very important for measuring poverty and inequality in the country.

The Ministry of Program Implementation has clarified that the results of the survey have not been announced at this time as the quality of the statistics is not good compared to the previous survey.

The Price Leak report states that for the first time since 1973 due to weak demand in rural areas, purchasing power has declined in FY 2017-18. Several experts have already warned about this. This is an indication that poverty is increasing in the country. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also raised questions against the government.

Among the other prominent economists who demanded the government to release the survey, Yogendra Yadav, a. Shivkumar (Ashoka University), Adhikari Sarkar (IDS, Kolkata), Ejaz Ahmed (University of California), Alpah Shah (London School of Economist), Amitabh Bhattacharya, Barbara Harris White (Oxford University), Chirashatri Dasgum (Dasgum). (Jammu and Kashmir), Prabhat Patnaik (JNU) and Yoshifumi Usami of Tokyo.