Uttar Pradesh growth claims lack official support, The Federal reports
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's assertions on agricultural growth and female labour force participation face scrutiny against official data.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has projected the state as a leading growth story, citing economic expansion and infrastructure development. However, a reality check by The Federal suggests several claims made by the Chief Minister at a Lucknow event on October 2 are overstated or unsupported by official figures.
Adityanath asserted that the state's agricultural growth rate rose from 8 per cent to 18 per cent, supported by irrigation projects such as the Arjun Sahayak, Bansagar, and Saryu Canal projects. While the state has seen high agricultural growth over the last 10 years, the surplus is not driving large industries, instead promoting unorganised clusters in cities like Moradabad, Sahranpur, and Varanasi.
The Chief Minister also claimed female labour force participation rose from 12 per cent to over 36 per cent. The Federal noted that Adityanath did not provide an official source for this data. Even if the rate is 32.1 per cent, it remains below the all-India female labour force participation average of approximately 40 per cent to 40.5 per cent reported by the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
Regarding employment, Adityanath claimed 65 lakh youth have been provided jobs during his nine years in office. However, CMIE data indicates that 31.96 lakh people remain unemployed in Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, while the state attracted investment proposals worth over Rs 45 lakh crore in the last five years, only Rs 15 lakh crore has been implemented on the ground, according to an NDTV report from June 4.