We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate, is a quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, former US President and Founding Father of the US. The majority of the electorate in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh as well as in Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur will elect a new government in a few weeks’ time, as per the dates announced by the Election Commission of India. The BJP is bidding for extension of office in four states and to assume office in Punjab. It’s no secret that the attention of all the agencies in the electoral ecosystem has gravitated towards the crucial state of UP.
Election rallies were never galleries for economic narratives. Even the sharpest political expert can only recollect campaigns in UP being caste-centric. But this time, economic development has been a focus of the poll campaign. A reasonable period for assessment of GDP growth between Yogi Adityanath and Akhilesh Yadav regimes would be the first three years as the last two financial years have been marred with lockdowns and economic restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Gross State Domestic Product or GSDP growth rate at constant prices during Yogi Adityanath term is three basis points higher than Akhilesh’s. As per Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) at constant prices, per capita income grew at 2.99 per cent vis-à-vis 2.62 per cent during Akhilesh government.
As per UP Directorate of Economics and Statistics, primary sector contribution reduced from 25.8 per cent in 2016-17 to 25.3 per cent in 2019-20 while the tertiary sector contribution rose from 46.3 to 49.7 per cent. According to the 15th Finance Commission report, the share of UP GSDP in 2018-19 rose to 9.7 per cent among the General States from 9.4 per cent in 2016-17. During Akhilesh Yadav regime, it largely stayed between 9.3 and 9.4.
At the heart of economic development is the UP Industrial Investment and Employment Promotion Policy 2017 whose major features are ease of doing business, promoting units in backward Purvanchal and Bundelkhand regions and ensuring a single-window clearance system. The Yogi government has implemented over 500 reforms leading to a quantum jump of 10 positions to secure the second rank in 2019 in the Government of India’s Business Reform Action Plan or Ease of Doing Business Rankings. Anchored to the investment promotion policy, additional 21 sectoral economic policies covering electronics, food processing, pharmaceuticals, solar etc. have been announced over the last four years.
At present, the MSME sector contributes 60 per cent of the state’s annual industrial output and is the second biggest employer after agriculture. The UP government enacted a landmark MSME (Facilitation of Establishment and Operations) Act of 2020 strengthening the MSME Promotion Policy 2017 and MSME Procurement Policy 2020. An approval for declaration of intent is given in 72 hours and units can obtain clearances within 1000 days. Institutionalised inspector raj has become a thing of the past. The Yogi government inaugurated One District, One Product (ODOP) in 2018 with a vision to identify one product from each of the 75 districts and create a product-specific traditional industrial hub.
The intent of the policies and legislation is to shift the weight of workforce from primary sector and provide entrepreneurship, self-employment and employment opportunities to the young and skilled workforce. As a result, in the past 4.5 years, 92 lakh MSME units have got loans worth Rs 2.7 lakh crore under various schemes, nearly 90 lakh MSME units have brought in investment of more than Rs 5 lakh crore and provided employment to 3 crore, common facility centres have been setup in 40 districts besides the government purchases through GeM (government e-marketplace) portal are in excess of Rs 15000 crore.
According to 2019 report of MSME Export Promotion Council, UP had 4.403 million MSME units in 2014-15 which doubled to 9 million units in 2019 largely due to One District, One Product scheme. This is in stark contrast to units moving to other states during the Akhilesh tenure. As per an estimate by the report, UP will have 14 million units by 2020-21.
A state’s potential and effectiveness of its economic policies can be gauged by the investments, including FDI, it attracts. In the Akhilesh tenure, investment proposals worth $10.2 billion were received and $253 million FDI had flown in. In comparison, three years of Yogi government received 7.5 times more investment proposals and 1.5 times more FDI, respectively. Economic Survey 2017-18 mentions that states that export internationally and trade with other states were found to be richer. Such correlation is stronger between prosperity and international trade. Share of UP in India’s exports jumped to 5.62 per cent in 2020-21 from 4.54 per cent in 2016-17 with ODOP driving the surge.
Robust connectivity is indispensable for industrial progress and capital investments. The Yogi government inaugurated two expressways — Purvanchal and Bundelkhand — while only one expressway was inaugurated under the previous regime. The national highway construction too witnessed fastest pace in Yogi tenure. The 351-km section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and completion of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor by 2022 will provide seamless movement of goods for consumption and export. Inauguration of National Waterways-1 and operationalisation of Noida airport by 2024 will provide multimodal options for exports.
Creation of job and employment avenues with consequent wide-scale socio-economic impact has been the topmost priority of the Yogi government. UP Industrial Investment and Employment Promotion Policy 2017, 21 sectoral economic policies, ODOP, Mudra, Stand Up India, Chief Minister Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme, Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyan, Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana, Mission Rozgar, Mukhyamantri Pravasi Shramik Udyamita Vikas Yojana and the 6.65 lakh government jobs have ensured the unemployment rate drops from 17.5 per cent in 2017 to 4.1 per cent by March 2021. The spectacle of steep decline in unemployment rate has another dimension – migrants from the massive reverse migration due to pandemic have been employed at the quickest pace.
Uttar Pradesh has the second largest economy among the states in FY21 and India’s $5 trillion GDP goal is unthinkable without UP leading the growth. The governance was delivered along the dimensions of ease of living, empowerment, employment and entrepreneurship with focus on economic growth and will continue to be delivered as the Yogi government is working on achieving $1 trillion economy by FY25, an idea floated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Prime Minister rightly said that UP-plus Yogi is ‘UPYOGI’. Democracy is based on the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities within ordinary people and BJP is sure about UPYOGI 2.0.
Sandeep Vempati is Joint Convener, BJP Telangana. He holds a Masters degree in Finance from University of London. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Read all the Latest Opinions here
Comments
0 comment