Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that since 2014, the government followed the path to take the economy forward by removing all the misgovernance and hurdles of the previous government. She said, at the same time, the government also focused on economic reforms. Replying to a discussion on White Paper on the Indian Economy and its impact on lives of the people of India, Ms Sitharaman said that the White Paper is a serious document with documentary evidence for everything what is stated in it. She added that it has been prepared with an intention of informing Parliament of the ten years’ literal dedicated effort of the government to work in such a way to bring the economy on track.
Hitting out at Congress led UPA rule, the Finance Minister said that the National security was compromised and environment clearances were delayed. She said that critical shortage of defence ammunition was the main feature of 2014 when the Modi government inherited the economy. Ms Sitharaman said that Modi government has allocated six lakh 22 thousand crore rupees for defence budget from two lakh 53 thousand crore rupees in 2013-14.
On the issue of unemployment, the Finance Minister said that the labour market has witnessed a falling unemployment rate from 5.8 per cent in 2018-19 to 3.2 per cent in 2022-23. She said, in the last nine years the government has filled up over 8 lakh 82 thousand central government vacancies. After the Finance Minister’s reply, the house rejected the substitute motion against the White Paper moved by N K Premachandran of RSP and TMC leader Saugata Roy of TMC.
