The Hindu : The figures are authentic, says Jaitley

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Saturday, Jun 07, 2003

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The figures are authentic, says Jaitley

By Our Staff Correspondent

Madhya Pradesh BJP president Kailash Joshi, national general secretary Pramod Mahajan, Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley and senior BJP leader Uma Bharti at the BJP State executive meeting in Bhopal on Friday. Photo: A.M. Faruqui

BHOPAL JUNE 6. The Union Minister for Law, Justice, Commerce and Industry, Arun Jaitley, today carried forward the debate on the issue of development by accusing the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, of trying to create an "erroneous impression'' through the media that he had relied on outdated figures and data while asserting that Madhya Pradesh was trailing far behind most other large States in the country.

Mr. Jaitley flanked by the general secretaries of his party, Pramod Mahajan and Shivraj Singh Chauhan, besides the star campaigner of BJP, Uma Bharti, and State party president, Kailash Joshi, was addressing newsmen at the State BJP headquarters here.

Mr. Jaitley said the Chief Minister was trying to mislead the people by saying that he had relied on outdated data while projecting the State's downward graph on the development front. Launching a counter-offensive, he said the report of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation was for the year 2002, the National Human Development Report of the Planning Commission was for the year 2001. "The India Today study is of the year 2003 and the most recent study of the Economic Times and Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has been published as recently as May 30 this year,'' he said, adding that not only are these publications the latest but even the data used by them is most current.A joint statement released to the press by Mr. Jaitley and Mr. Mahajan also highlighted these points while emphasising that the Chief Minister had failed to recognise that each of these agencies had relied on indisputable data.

Mr. Jaitley told newsmen that "Mr. Digvijay Singh finds himself at a loss when it comes to responding to the fact that even on the social indices the report of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation classifies Madhya Pradesh in "D'' category.'' He further said that the India Today report classifies the State at the bottom of 19 large States in the country. "What is even more alarming is that even in the field of literacy and education -- an area where Mr. Singh claims achievement -- it is ranked 16th out of 19 States,'' he said, adding that Mr. Singh's best achievement (on the literacy front) is still below the national average. Mr. Jaitley cited from an analysis of poverty in India by well- known economists K. Sundaram and Suresh D. Tendulkar published in the April 5, 2003, issue of the Economic and Political Weekly and said that between 1993 and 2000 there was a rise in the number of the poor by 1.3 million in Assam, 2.6 million in Madhya Pradesh and 0.8 million in Orissa. In the same context, he said, whatever indicators we look at -- whether economic or social -- the objective should be to reduce poverty and this is something that has not been achieved in the State.

Taking a dig at Mr. Singh, the BJP leader said the Chief Minister talks of the historical legacy he has inherited in the State and went on to ask, "Is he trying to point a finger at his own party, which has been in power for most of the time since the formation of the State, for all its backwardness''

Mr. Jaitley further said that Mr. Singh's claims with regard to population control are based on "half-truth'' since the infant mortality rate in Madhya Pradesh is one of the highest in the country and the State is among the bottom two States in terms of infant mortality. The situation was also grim with regard to life expectancy and maternal mortality in Madhya Pradesh, he added.

When a query was raised on the issue of Dhar's Bhojshala and the BJP stand on it, Mr. Jaitley deflected the question saying he would not allow anyone to shift attention from the issue of development. He asserted that his party's focus in the coming State Assembly election would be on development. Asked to comment on the State Chief Minister's assertion at the just concluded State Congress conclave at Pachmarhi that they were considering the option of entering into an electoral alliance with the Third Front for the coming election, the BJP leader said that the BJP would be contesting the election on its own. Mr. Jaitley said he was not shying away from a direct debate with the Chief Minister on the development issue. Mr. Singh was free to pick any television channel and invite him for a debate whenever he likes, said Mr. Jaitley, adding that Mr. Mahajan had made a similar offer even at an earlier press conference jointly addressed by them here.

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The figures are authentic, says Jaitley