Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that the Indian economy suffered during the UPA rule because of interference from an extra-Constitutional body National Advisory Council (NAC), while the Narendra Modi Government worked with a vision to bring it back on the rails, and to meet aspirations of the people.
She was replying to a day-long discussion on the Modi Government’s White Paper on the economy in the Lok Sabha.
The finance minister said the White Paper is a serious document with documental evidence on everything it said, prepared with the intention to inform the House on the efforts made by the NDA Government during its 10 year rule to correct the mistakes made during the 10-year rule of the Congress-led UPA.
Mrs Sitharaman said there was mismanagement during the UPA rule because it was rudderless and leaderless and there was pressure on the Government from the National Advisory Council (NAC) led by Congress leader Mrs Sonia Gandhi.
She said as many as 710 government files were sent to the extra-Constitutional National Advisory Council during the UPA rule for approval, while the NAC was known to be an unaccountable and unanswerable body.
This led to big scams, the finance minister contended. “We respect PM Manmohan Singh and while he was on a foreign tour, a Government Ordinance was torn in the House, insulting their own prime minister,” she said. This showed arrogance, and they lecture the NDA on institutions; where were the Opposition leaders talking now, she said.
The non-Constitutional body was directing the government then, she said. The Opposition should be fair in its judgement. “You had a kitchen cabinet then,” and an elected government today cannot bring a While Paper, she said.
She said the UPA claims credit for UIDAI but there was no consensus on it then. The committee which examined the UIDAI said it was conceptualised with no purpose, she said. At least three Central Ministries, Food, Civil Supplies and Rural and Labour Ministry opposed Aadhaar, she said. There were questions on connectivity. The NDA Government showed leadership for effective implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
PMLA prosecutions were few during the UPA rule, she said. ED was not given any freedom and therefore there were zero convictions. There are 58 convictions under the Narendra Modi Government. Restitution of money was also zero during the UPA rule.
There were no red corner notices under PMLA during the UPA rule. People who fled with money will be brought back, she said. “None was declared fugitive during the UPA rule. We declared 12 persons as fugitives. None was extradited during the UPA rule,” she said. The NDA has seized their properties.
Mr N K Premachandran (RSP) and Mr Saugata Roy (Trinamul Congress) moved substitute motions rejecting the conclusions of the White Paper, alleging it was written with political considerations. The substitute motions were later rejected by the House by voice-vote.
Replying to Congress leader Manish Tewari, Mrs Sitharaman said unemployment has been falling generally and for graduates also, including female graduates. PLI has given seven lakh jobs. EPFO is adding new employees among its members. Over eight lakh Central government vacancies have been filled transparently in the last nine years, she said.
There was 8.2 per cent inflation during the UPA rule and in its last three years it was 9.8 per cent when the global rate was four to five per cent, she said. The NDA government is giving subsidy on cooking gas. The UPA with double digit inflation cannot ask the NDA about inflation.
She said Ujjwala beneficiaries are buying 11 lakh refills of cooking cylinders every day, she said. The NDA’s goal is sabka saath, sabka vikas and with sabka prayaas the nation will progress, she said.
The minister said the challenge before the NDA Government was to correct all the mis-governance during UPA’s 10 years, do reforms and nudge the economy in such way to smoothen the movement forward. Documentary evidence, Supreme Court judgments and CAG reports have been quoted in the White Paper and there is nothing which is figment of imagination, she said.
There is nothing baseless in the document, everything is given with proof, she said. “I challenge anyone to prove it,” she said.
National security was compromised and the environment Ministry became a block in the clearances with a common talk of “Jayanti Tax.”
There was critical shortage of ammunition. The forces did not have bullet-proof jackets, night vision goggles and the men were like sitting ducks, she said. For many years there was no development on the border, as then Defence Minister A K Antony believed that it was not good.
Mr Antony told a Defence expo that there was no money; what message it must have sent to forces on the border. There were scams, the CAG had pulled up the Ministry of Defence for delaying buying of guns. The defence budget is now doubled to Rs 6.22 lakh crore during 2024-25.
Main battle tanks, artillery guns, Tejas fighter planes are available and women are flying fighter planes now. HAL was ignored and today it has Rs 4 lakh crore status. The UPA Government never gave any orders to HAL and it therefore suffered.