Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 8 tabled a ‘White Paper on the Indian Economy’ in the Lok Sabha.
“When we formed the government in 2014, the economy was in a fragile state; public finances were in a bad shape; there was economic mismanagement and financial indiscipline, and there was widespread corruption. It was a crisis situation” the white paper, tabled by the Finance Ministry, noted.
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“Now that we have stabilised the economy and set it on a recovery and growth path, it is necessary to place in the public domain the seemingly insurmountable challenges – left behind as a legacy by the UPA Government,” it said.
According to the Finance Ministry, the White Paper has four objectives. Firstly, to apprise people of the “nature and extent of governance, economic and fiscal crises” when the Narendra Modi-led government took over in 2014.
The paper also said it is to inform about the policies and measures taken by the government under Mr. Modi to “restore the health of the economy and make it vigorous and capable of fulfilling the growth aspirations of the people in the present and in the Amrit Kaal”.
The Ministry, through the paper, also “hopes to generate a wider, more informed debate on the paramountcy of national interest and fiscal responsibility in matters of governance over political expediency”. And lastly, “to commit ourselves to national development, with new inspirations, new consciousness, new resolutions, as the country opens up immense possibilities and opportunities.”
The 47-page paper, with a few additional pages of data annexures, is spliced into three parts and concludes by stressing: “Our government, unlike its predecessor, invested in the foundations of the economy along with building a sturdy superstructure. Looking back at the last ten years, we can say with humility and satisfaction that we have successfully overcome the challenges left behind by the previous government. That said, we are not resting on our laurels. There are miles to go and mountains to scale before we sleep.”
“The Amrit Kaal has just begun and our destination is “India a developed nation by 2047”. It is our Kartavya Kaal.”
Ms. Sitharaman in her Interim Budget speech had announced that the government will come out with a white paper on the economy outlining the economic mismanagement in the 10 years of UPA rule till 2014.
