According to the Economic Survey 2019, a seven percent Gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the financial year, 2019-2020 has been predicted. The survey was presented by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in both houses of Parliament today.
“Real GDP growth for the year 2019-20 is projected at 7 percent reflecting a recovery in the economy after a deceleration in the growth momentum throughout 2018-19,” the survey said.
The fiscal rate has been retained at 3.4 percent and as against the 6.4 percent in the last financial calendar. Prices of oil, on the other hand, are expected to decline this year.
The survey said the data “of the people, by the people, for the people” must become the mantra for the government, which needs to view data as a “public good” and make necessary investments. It asserted that the benefits of creating data as a public good can be generated within the legal framework of data privacy.
The survey also emphasised that the data and information highway must be viewed as equally important infrastructure as the physical highways.
“Such a stance can help India leapfrog to utilise the benefits of technological advances for the welfare of its people. In the spirit of the Constitution of India, data ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’ must therefore become the mantra for the government, “the survey said.
