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Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati has targeted the central government by questioning the government's claim of 7.8 percent GDP growth rate in the first quarter of the current financial year. He said that development figures matter only when their direct benefits are visible in the lives of the poor, working class and Bahujan population of the country. It is natural for people struggling with inflation, poverty and unemployment to raise questions about the government's claims of development and the ground reality.

Mayawati has said, 'If the growth rate figures released by the government are correct then it is a good thing but if it is just a juggling of figures then it is a matter of concern. The government should tell in a credible manner how much the crores of poor and working people of the country have benefited from such a high growth rate and how much they are going to get in the future.

The real test of development is the life of the people.

BSP chief Mayawati further said, 'Development should not be assessed only by figures and government claims. Its real test is the change in the lives of the common people. Development will be considered meaningful only when the economic condition of poor and working people improves, employment opportunities increase and they can get a better life with dignity.

Mayawati said that if the benefits of increasing GDP do not reach the large population of the country, then about 140 crore people will have to bear the burden of being 'poor people of the rich government'. He said that the development of the country will be considered as 'good days' only when the Bahujans and the working people can live a relatively happy life with self-respect, free from poverty, unemployment and corruption.

Government also cornered on the issue of outsourced employees

Mayawati also raised questions on the policy to outsourced employees of the Uttar Pradesh government. Responding to the state government's decision to increase the honorarium of outsourced employees and provide security cover to about 20 lakh people, he said that it would have been better if the government had given government jobs to these people directly. He argued that by getting regular government jobs, employees could get relief from problems like bureaucratic arbitrariness, corruption and exploitation. Mayawati said that the government should take steps towards a permanent and respectable system of employment, so that the youth and the working class can get real security.

This statement of Mayawati is being seen as an attack by BSP on the economic and employment policies of the Central and State Government. By raising issues like inflation, employment and income of the common man amid rising GDP figures, Mayawati has questioned the government as to how far the real benefits of economic development are reaching the weakest sections of the society.