Ramaswami: First, the growth-rate of agriculture is not the same as the growth-rate of rural consumer expenditure. Even when the growth-rate of agriculture is high, the growth rate of rural consumption expenditure appears sluggish. The classic example of this was in 2017-18, which was a bumper crop year, and yet, according to National Sample Survey data, per capita real expenditure in rural India was absolutely lower in that year compared to 2011-12 by as much as 8 per cent. This could be partly because of infirmities in agricultural growth estimates; but more importantly, it is because the cost-of-living index for peasants and agricultural labourers is grossly underestimated, as it does not take into account the cost-raising effects of the privatisation of essential services like education and healthcare.