Rain gods were kinder to previous governments: Arun Jaitley

Mangalore Today News Network

Sep 21, 2015 Concerned over low rate of agricultural growth, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the rain gods have not been as kind to the Narendra Modi government as they were to the earlier ones. He said a weak agriculture sector is posing a serious challenge to the economy, but the government is committed to improving its performance.

 

"We have 55 per cent of our population dependent on agriculture, and rain gods have not been as kind to this government in the last two years as they were to the earlier governments. Therefore, the agriculture growth was flat last fiscal and this year," Jaitley said while talking about the adversities on the path of India growth story in Hong Kong.

The opposition Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government led by Manmohan Singh ruled at the Centre for 10 straight years before the BJP stormed to power in May 2014.

"We started with a much better June and July, but ended up with a disappointing August and the earlier part of September on monsoon. I am told monsoon has returned somewhat in the past few days to narrow the gap between normal and below normal," the Finance Minister said at a summit of international investors.

"About 15 per cent of the country’s total GDP comes from agriculture and a lot more people would need to move to manufacturing and services sectors," he noted. In this regard, Jaitley said the plans include building a lot more cities, smart cities and suburban townships for which infrastructure is required.

"At the same time, the government is also strengthening the rural areas in terms of irrigation and rural infrastructure and by providing urban facilities. These are the priorities as far as this government is concerned," he added.

 

Courtesy: Indiatoday