Restoring 8% growth must for funding welfare programmes: Jairam Ramesh

NEW DELHI: Restoration of 8 percent economic growth and its sustenance is a must for a Congress government to implement its ambitious six-point charter of pro-poor measures, including the right to affordable healthcare and housing, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said today.

"Of course, underpinning all this is centrality of economic growth. If you don't have economic growth coming back to 8 per cent and sustaining it, then you don't have the revenue to all these social development programmes," Ramesh said.

The Rural Development Minister, who is a key contributor to the party manifesto for 2014 Lok Sabha polls released here, said the country had 8 per cent growth during first five years of UPA government.

"In the first five years of UPA, we had 8 per cent growth and in the second five years we had 7.3 per cent. We have to keep the average of 8 per cent growth," Ramesh said.

The manifesto vowed to restore the country's sluggish economy to 8 per cent-plus growth rate within three years.

Admitting there has been a slackening of growth in the country in the last two years, the minister said "so we have to bring it back. So it is a growth agenda plus deepening of the social welfare programmes".

He, however, said UPA I and UPA II performed far better than the previous BJP-led NDA government in building the country's economy.

"Incidentally, during NDA period of six years, they could make only 6 per cent growth. UPA has certainly delivered a higher growth," he said.

Titled "Your Voice our Pledge", the manifesto has come out with a 15-point agenda for socio-economic and political transformation of the country.