SDPI EXPRESSES DEEP CONCERN ABOUT PLUNGING INDIAN ECONOMY New Delhi, December 4th, 2019: The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has expressed deep concern, anguish and anxiety about the Indian economy which continues to be in the doldrums with no hope of revival in the immediate future. The slump to 4.5 percent GDP, the lowest in more than six years should ring alarms in the corridors of power that are responsible to maintain a steady growth of economy for the welfare of one and all. SDPI National General Secretary Abdul Majeed in a statement, however, said that the latest GDP numbers should not surprise anyone. When the growth fell to 5 percent in the first quarter of 2019-20, observers had warned of a further slowdown. The maiden budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman this year was actually a growth-dampened one. After the damage was done, she tried to reverse the slide but by then other factors had already come into play. Besides, the impact of a record reduction in corporate tax rates would be felt only after a considerable time lag. Not everything that went wrong can be blamed on a global slowdown and/or cyclical factors. These may have contributed somewhat but the crisis was largely of our own making. Majeed pointed out that sector after sector of the economy is saddled with growth brakes. Manufacturing has contracted to a record level. Farm sector is stagnating. Construction has shrunk from 9.3 in the 3rd quarter of last financial year to 3.3 percent in the latest quarter. Services sector, the bread and butter of the economy, too has reported disappointing numbers, contracting from a growth of 8.2 percent in the last quarter of last financial to 6.7 in the second quarter of this year. In short, there are no bright spots in the economy. He said that India Inc. mostly compromises of yes-men and who simply praise the Govt. in power, because either they have some things to hide or due to survival instincts. Always, they have been “more loyal than the king”. He wondered what happened to the letter written by 71 retired Bureaucrats on INX Media case to Prime Minster Narendra Modi. What happened to letter written by 49 celebrities to Modi on lynching? FIR filed against them to frighten them. Majeed questioned as to when the government is going to take corrective action to address the issues and stop our country from going into recession? Stop making excuses. It’s high time that the government stop making fool of us and help us.