The ongoing Budget session of Parliament is being extended by a day till Saturday, with the government set to table a ‘white paper’ comparing the state of the Indian economy before and after 2014, when the BJP-led NDA came to power after defeating the Congress.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is reportedly to present the ‘white paper’ on Saturday to highlight the country’s poor economic condition when the Congress-led UPA left power, as often charged by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and how the incumbent dispensation brought the turnaround.
The session, which began on January 31, was otherwise slated to end on February 9.
White Paper On Economy
The government will come out with a white paper on the mismanagement of the economy before 2014 to draw lessons. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government came to power in May 2014 after a 10-year rule by the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.
Why The Government Is Bringing a White Paper?
“It is now appropriate to look at where we were then till 2014 and where we are now, only for the purpose of drawing lessons from the mismanagement of those years. “The government will lay a white paper on table of the House,” announced FM Sithraman while presenting the interim Budget for the next financial year on February 1.
The need of the hour, she said, was to give hope to the people, to attract investments, and to build support for the much-needed reforms. “The government did that successfully following our strong belief of ‘nation-first’,” Sitharaman said.
She further said the crisis of those years has been overcome, and the economy has been put firmly on a highly sustainable growth path with all-round development. Sitharaman began her nearly an hour-long Budget speech emphasising that the Indian economy has witnessed a profound positive transformation in the last ten years.
The people of India are looking ahead to the future with hope and optimism, she said.
“With the blessings of the people, when our government under the visionary and dynamic leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi assumed office in 2014, the country was facing enormous challenges,” the senior minister said.
Interim Budget 2024
Sitharaman, who was presenting her sixth Budget, said that with ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ as its ‘mantra’, the government overcame those challenges in right earnest. Structural reforms were undertaken, pro-people programmes were formulated and implemented promptly, and conditions were created for more opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship.
“The economy got a new vigour. The fruits of development started reaching the people at scale. The country got a new sense of purpose and hope. “Naturally, the people blessed the government with a bigger mandate (2019),” she added.
With the ‘whole of nation’ approach of ‘Sabka Prayas’, Sitharaman said the country overcame the challenge of a once-in-a-century pandemic, took long strides towards ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, committed to ‘Panch Pran’, and laid solid foundations for the ‘Amrit Kaal’. “We expect that our government, based on its stupendous work, will be blessed again by the people with a resounding mandate,” the minister said.
The general elections to elect the next Lok Sabha are likely to be held in April-May this year.
(With agency inputs)
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