All important sectors in state performing poorly, says Shettar

The Siddaramaiah government has performed miserably in agriculture, industry and service sectors, leading to downward growth of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in the last one year. Making this observation along with supporting statistics, Jagadish Shettar, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, on Monday said the decline in the key sectors reflected poorly on administration and finance management of the government.

Participating in the discussion on the budget proposals for 2017-18, Shettar said Karnataka’s GSDP growth rate for 2016-17 has been projected at 6.9%, which is lower than the country’s average of 7.1%. The state’s GSDP growth rate was 10.5% in 2013-14. The agriculture growth rate has plummeted to 1.2%. The industry growth rate has declined from 8.2% to 2.2% and the growth rate of the service sector has reduced from 11% to 8.5%, he pointed out.

The BJP leader said when the key sectors have taken a beating, it is natural that the overall growth has been sluggish. But the Siddaramaiah government has been issuing advertisements, claiming credit for the state’s progress, he added.

When Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Major Industries Minister R V Deshpande argued consecutive droughts had left an adverse impact on agriculture sector, Shettar hit back, saying, “If that is the only reason, why is the industrial sector doing so badly? Many states have been facing drought, but still performing well in terms of growth.”

Intervening, Siddaramaiah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot claim credit for the GDP growth rate because all states have contributed to the national average. However, Deshpande did not offer an explanation for the decline in industrial growth.