The economy is the defining factor of any government’s ability to showcase its achievements. Every election cycle, the economy becomes the primary factor for performance. The economy makes and breaks the country. Similarly, it also makes and breaks the government. Recently, a Twitter user ‘ahindu‘ shared a tweet stating that 2004-2014 were the golden years of our economy (Indian Economy). He concluded that there were four defining factors for the claim. 1) High growth rates 2) More Jobs 3) Low tax rates 4) Actual inflation was lower.
Besides, another Twitter user going by the handle name Hoor Sheikh Fiza, took a sarcastic jibe at PM Modi and claimed that India under Modi government has witnessed high inflation rate and unemployment.
Fact Check
Economy
We started our research with high growth rates. We googled reports of growth rates between 2004-2014 post the UPA era and found the contrasting differences. According to Wion Report, the Indian economy grew at 6.7% under Manmohan Govt from 2009-2014 while the Indian economy grew at a superior yearly run rate of 7.4% under the Modi Govt.
We should also not forget that Manmohan Singh took over the healthy economy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. UPA greatly benefited from a superior growth rate post ABV of 7.9, which kept the economy stable for the next few years, but eventually Manmohan Singh’s luck ran out and the economy shrink to 3.1 in Financial Year 2008-2009. However, Indian Economy recovered in the next 2 years but shrank below 6 on average for the next few years. The UPA left a shrinking economy for Modi Govt. Moreover, the Modi Govt. left the past behind and kept the economy superior and stable until the Covid era.
Despite UPA Govt. being handed superior growth rate, Indian economy worsened in last 4 years of UPA Govt. Under Manmohan Govt, India’s GDP ranking went from 9 to 10, while in the first four years of Modi government, it improved from 10 to 6.
All the data indicator suggests that economy under UPA Govt. were worsened compared the economy under current Govt. We moved on to the next point, which is more jobs.
Jobs
In 2018, during the Karnataka elections, the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi admitted that even UPA did not create enough Jobs.
The UPA Govt. also admitted that there was lack of increase in employment between 2004-2009 and self-employed workforce shrinked from 56.4% to 50.7%.
The UPA also fell far behind in the Govt. workforce. The number of government employees under the UPA I fell 2.7% and under UPA II rose 3.4%. In the four years of NDA, their count is projected to increase 7.2% by 2017-18.
The UPA Govt. created very less jobs compared to previous NDA regime led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. According to NSSO data, the UPA 1 created only 2 Lakhs Jobs annually compared to 12 million jobs were created during annually Atal Bihari Vajpayee Govt.
Every available data and news report suggests that the UPA Govt. led by Manmohan Singh had failed miserably on employment front. Did they fair well on inflation front?
Inflation
Just after the 2014 general elections, former Finance Minister P. Chidambram blamed inflation for UPA’s thumping defeat in Lok Sabha elections. He stated that the “fiscal stimulus package inducted between 2009 and 2011 was a collective decision of the government that led to breaching of fiscal and revenue deficits and high inflation, for which people punished the UPA government in the Lok Sabha elections.”
The inflation under Manmohan Singh’s Govt was 7.8% for the first 7 years which was far more than Modi’s Govt’s 4.8% per annum.
According to Zee News analysis, inflation was ridiculously high and unstable under UPA Govt. compared to Modi Govt. In 2006, the inflation rate was 5.80%, while in 2015 was 4.95%. In 2007 the inflation rate was 6.37%, while in 2017, it was just 3.3%.
The inflation after 2007 went out of control. In 2008, inflation was 8.35%, while in 2018 it was 3.94%. The inflation rate in 2009 was 10.88%,g while in 2019 inflation was only 3.73%. In 2010, inflation broke all records. At that time, the inflation rate had reached the level of 11.99%. Whereas in 2020, the inflation rate came to 6.62 percent when the country was struggling with Covid and lockdown.
The inflation under the UPA broke the backbone of middle class and people living in poverty and hence, faced the defeat.
Tax rates
The UPA regime being very friendly to middle and salaried class is myth. In 2005, the income tax between 2.5 Lakhs to 5 Lakhs was 30% which was subsequently reduced to 10% in 2012-2013. Meanwhile NDA Govt. announces Income upto Rs 5 Lakh to get full tax rebate which is extended to 7 Lakhs under new Tax Regime.
The tax burden from salaried class has been reduced systematically. So, any individual taxpayer having annual income up to Rs 8 lakh can utilize various deductions and bring the taxable income below Rs 5 lakhs and end up paying no income tax.
All the economic indicator suggests that UPA has failed on every economic front and hence claim made by a Twitter user that the UPA era was the golden era for Indian Economy is false.
| Claim | UPA Govt. was the golden era for Indian Economy |
| Claimed by | Twitter user |
| fact Check | False |
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