In a forthright and forceful critique – perhaps better described as an attack – of the government and economic commentators who focus single-mindedly on GDP growth as a measurement of the health of the economy, the chairman of the Congress Party’s Data Analytics, Praveen Chakravarty, has said this is “mistaken and misleading” because it hides or, at least, does not reveal the fact that hundreds of millions of Indian citizens are dependent on NREGA whilst the unemployment rate is hovering around 8%. Praveen Chakravarty says, “It is time for a complete reset in our economic public discourse and narrative … the health of the labour markets has to shape the economic narrative of the nation.”In a 25-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Praveen Chakravarty went one step further and explicitly articulated advice to the Opposition block INDIA, of which his party, the Congress, is a leading member. He said, “Instead of nitpicking on GDP numbers, as they normally do, the Opposition INDIA alliance can start by rejecting next quarter’s GDP release and instead demand data on median income growth and the total number of jobs created in the economy.”Explaining why he believes GDP growth is mistaken and misleading and, in fact, hides the reality of economic distress faced by hundreds of millions of Indians, Chakravarty pointed out that whilst in Quarter one GDP growth was 7.8%, it more or less coincided with the highest ever demand during the last 10 years for NREGA in June, July and August as well as with an unemployment rate hovering around 8%. As he pointed out, this means impressive GDP growth and very distressing unemployment and economic distress can and are occurring at the same time.For instance, in August, Government of India figures showed that 20 million families were dependent on NREGA. The figure was higher in July and even higher in June. As Chakravarty put it, “Millions of families are signaling that, as recently as a few weeks ago, they had no other source of income except to toil for bare minimum wages under the NREGA unemployment insurance scheme … it is an indicator of the economic distress of Indian households.” And this happened “just when India’s economy apparently experienced one of its strongest growth quarters”.Also read: Three Claims of Government Economists About Jobs Put to the TestIn these circumstances, Chakravarty said this “maniacal” focus on GDP growth is a “cruel joke”.Chakravarty made clear he was neither commenting on nor criticising the economic handling of the country by the Modi government but, instead, criticising and attacking the use of GDP growth as a measurement and symbol of economic performance.Chakravarty revealed that after he first published his views in an article in the Indian Express Rahul Gandhi rang him up to talk further about his views. He said Gandhi expressed great interest in understanding his argument better. Of course, Chakravarty was not in a position to say whether Gandhi would heed his advice to ensure that the INDIA alliance rejects next quarter’s GDP release and instead demands data on median income growth and the total number of jobs created in India.I’m only giving you the big broad details of the argument presented by Chakravarty. If you are interested in knowing more – and it’s a fascinating viewpoint, expressed simply and without technical jargon and, therefore, easy to understand – I strongly suggest you watch the interview.To help you, I include the list of questions asked so that you can see how the interview is structured.Here are the questions:1) In a recent op-ed that you wrote for the Indian Express (28/9) you say that: “Headline GDP is a dangerously misleading odometer for the economic engine of a nation.” In other words, Headline GDP does not tell you the true condition in which the majority of people live. You can have high GDP growth but also worryingly high unemployment and tens of millions dependent on NREGA. Have I understood you correctly?2) Now two things follow from what you have written. First – and this may be incidental or tangential – the debate between four Chief Economic Advisors, three foreign university academics and members of the Economic Advisory Council over India’s actual GDP growth rate for the last quarter and whether it’s strong or anemic is irrelevant because GDP doesn’t convey the real truth about the country.3) The second point is more important. India’s quarter 1 GDP growth of 7.8% more or less coincided with the highest ever demand during the last 10 years for NREGA in June, July and August as well as an unemployment rate hovering around 8%. This means impressive GDP growth and very distressing unemployment and economic distress can occur at the same. Unemployment: 7.9% July and 8.1% August (CMIE).4) Let’s drill a little further into this point. In August, 20 million families were dependent on NREGA. This means, as you put it, “millions of families are signaling that, as recently as a few weeks ago, they had no other source of income except to toil for bare minimum wages under the NREGA unemployment insurance scheme … it is an indicator of the economic distress of Indian households.” And this happened “just when India’s economy apparently experienced one of its strongest growth quarters”. So we have huge distress which is masked or, at least, not revealed by the soaring GDP figure.5) There’s a further point about GDP which you don’t make in your article but let me put it to you to see if you agree. GDP uses a proxy to estimate what’s happening in the unorganized sector which is 45% (including agriculture) of the economy and 80-85% of employment. So, first of all, we’re not sure if it’s being measured correctly. Second, if the unorganized sector is disproportionately hit by COVID-19, compared to the organised sector, the proxy which is derived from the organized sector will very substantially overestimate the unorganised sector. Do you agree this is another reason why GDP is misleading?6) Now you come to two conclusions. First, you say: “The idea of GDP as a holy grail measure for the health of the overall economy” is not just misleading but close to meaningless.7) Your second conclusion is actually a message to the Opposition Block INDIA. You say: “Instead of nit-picking on GDP numbers as they normally do, the Opposition INDIA alliance can start by rejecting next quarter’s GDP release and instead demand data on median income growth and the total number of jobs created in the economy.” This, I presume, would be a way of talking about what matters to the vast majority of Indian people.8) Have you discussed this advice with Rahul Gandhi or Mallikarjun Kharge?9) In fact, you go one step further. You also have a general message for those who write about or claim to understand the economy. You say: “It is time for a complete reset in our economic public discourse and narrative … the health of the labour markets has to shape the economic narrative of the nation.”10) Finally, what you say about India is actually true for most of the rest of the world. You say: “The correlation between Headline GDP and prosperity for the median citizen has broken in most nations.” In other words, in a sense, your advice applies universally.