GDP growth rate at sobering 6.7 per cent, banking system bankrupt: Chidambaram
New Delhi, June 10: Senior Congress leader P.Chidambaram on Sunday slammed the Narendra Modi government for its poor showing on economic indicators after four years rule, noting the GDP growth rate was at a "sobering" 6.7 per cent and the "banking system bankrupt" with gross NPAs rising from Rs 2,63,015 crore to Rs 10,30,000 crore.
"On the day after the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the growth numbers for 2017-18, the media played up just one number: 7.7 per cent," he said, in a series of tweets.
"At first blush it appeared to be the GDP growth number for the whole year 2017-18, and was certainly impressive. Actually, it was the growth number for just one quarter, Q4, and the uptick was also because of the low base effect. For the whole year, however, the GDP growth rate was a sobering 6.7 per cent," he said.
"At the end of four years, the government has switched over to a modest Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas (Clean intention, right progress)!.
"At the end of four of the five years allowed to a government, the people cannot be expected to judge a government by its intent. The correct test is outcomes. Look at the boxes with the graphs. And every line, after showing promise in the first year, has dipped.
"From 8.2 per cent to 6.7 per cent in two years, it is a fall of 1.5 per cent - exactly what I had predicted after demonetisation," he noted.
"Gross NPAs have risen from Rs 2,63,015 crore to Rs 10,30,000 crore and will rise more. The banking system is practically bankrupt. I have not come across a banker who will willingly sanction a loan; nor an investor who will confidently borrow money," he added.
Chidambaram also said credit growth dipped drastically from 13.8 per cent to 5.4 per cent before recovering somewhat in 2017-18.
"Within credit growth, it is credit to industry that is important. In the last four years, annual credit growth rates to industry were 5.6, 2.7, - 1.9 and 0.7 per cent," he said.
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NEET aspirant from Haryana hangs self in Kota; parents suspect murder, demand fair probe
Kota (Rajasthan), Apr 29: A 20-year-old NEET aspirant was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his hostel room in Kunhari area here, with his parents suspecting he was murdered, police said on Monday.
This is the eighth case of suicide by a coaching student in Kota since January. The number of student suicides in Kota stood at 26 in 2023.
Sumit Panchal, who hailed from Haryana's Rohtak, had been preparing for NEET at a coaching institute here for over a year, the police said.
His parents have demanded the registration of a murder case against unidentified persons and an impartial investigation into the matter.
On demand of the student's parents, a medical board was constituted to perform the autopsy, said Assistant Sub-Inspector Kaptan, who is investigating the case.
The body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem, they said.
The student had allegedly hanged himself around 9 hours before his body was spotted by the hostel staff, the ASI said.
Panchal's body was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his room at the hostel in Landmark City under the Kunhari police station limits on Sunday night, they said.
However, his parents suspected Panchal was murdered, citing that the injury on his neck from the rope was too deep to be caused by hanging, the police said.
A case of unnatural death under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code has been lodged for initial investigation in the matter, they said.
No suicide note was recovered from the student's hostel room and the reason behind his extreme step is yet to be ascertained, Arvind Bhardwaj, Circle Inspector (CI) at Kunhari police station, said on Monday.
Panchal was supposed to take the NEET-UG exam next month, the police said.
He allegedly hanged himself sometime on Sunday noon but the matter came to light only around 9.30 pm when the warden spotted the body and informed the police, the CI said.
A police team rushed to the spot and recovered the body and shifted it to the mortuary of MBS Hospital for postmortem, he added.
In gross violation of safety norms, the hostel room did not have an anti-suicide device installed with the ceiling fan, which could have averted the tragedy, the officer added.
Meanwhile, the deceased's father, uncle and grandfather who reached Kota on Monday morning to claim the body suspected foul play and claimed Panchal did not commit suicide but was murdered.
"Sumit was good at studies and would always assure us of securing a rank among the top ten. He cannot commit suicide," his uncle Surendra Panchal told PTI outside the mortuary.
The wound on his neck is so deep that it couldn't have been caused by hanging, he claimed and demanded autopsy by medical board.
The student's family has also demanded the formation of a SIT for investigation in the matter, CI Bhardwaj said.
