Budget Session: Discussion on ‘White Paper’ expected to rock LS today

Stormy scenes are expected in Lok Sabha on Friday when members will participate in the discussion on the ‘White Paper’ tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, which will review the economic management of the Congress-led UPA for a decade. government is compared to that of ten years. of the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled dispensation.

According to the list of business in the House of Commons for today, the Union Finance Minister will say: “That this House considers the White Paper on the Indian Economy and its impact on the lives of the people of India.”

The nearly 60-page White Paper, tabled by Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Thursday, says the banking crisis was one of the most important and infamous legacies of the UPA government.

It said the UPA government gave up on reforms after coming to power in 2004 and had failed to build on the strong foundation laid by the previous BJP-led NDA government.

It said the economy grew rapidly between 2004 and 2008, largely due to the “lagging effects” of the NDA government’s reforms led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“The UPA leadership, which rarely fails to take credit for the 1991 reforms, abandoned them after coming to power in 2004. Even as the country was on the verge of emerging as a powerful economy, the UPA government did little to build reforms. on the strong foundation laid by the previous NDA government….

‘In the years between 2004 and 2008, the economy grew rapidly, thanks to the lagged effects of the NDA government’s reforms and favorable global conditions. The UPA government took credit for the high growth but did little to consolidate it. taking advantage of the years of high growth to strengthen the government’s fiscal position and investing in infrastructure to boost future growth prospects was exposed,” the White Paper said.

It accused the UPA government of political interference in the commercial lending decisions of public sector banks.

“The banking crisis was one of the most important and infamous legacies of the UPA government. When the Vajpayee-led NDA government came into office, the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio in public sector banks was 16.0 percent and when it left office it was 7.8 percent. By September 2013, this ratio, including restructured loans, had increased to 12.3 percent, largely due to political interference by the UPA government in the commercial lending decisions of public sector banks. Worse, even such a high bad debt rate was an underestimate.”

The White Paper stated that there were defense scandals that threatened defense preparedness and that the government was delaying the acquisition of weapons.

“In the UPA government, decision-making came to a standstill due to corruption and scandals in defense, compromising defense preparedness. The government postponed the purchase of artillery and anti-aircraft guns, fighter aircraft, submarines, night combat equipment and a wide range of equipment. upgrades,” the report said.

The White Paper also referred to the “coal scam” and stated that the allocation of coal blocks was done on an “arbitrary basis”.

“The coal scam shook the conscience of the nation in 2014. Before 2014, the allocation of coal blocks was done on an arbitrary basis without following a transparent process to allocate the blocks. The coal sector was excluded from competition and transparency and the sector lacked investment and efficiency improvements. These actions were scrutinized by investigative agencies and in 2014, the Supreme Court of India canceled the allotment of 204 coal mines/blocks allotted since 1993,” it said.

It said controversies such as 2G spectrum scam, coal port scam and the Common Wealth Games (CWG) reflected poorly on India’s image as an investment destination.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai will present in Rajya Sabha today the Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies (Amendment) Bill, 2024 for consideration and approval.

The bill provides for amendments to the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 (IX of 1989), the Jammu and Kashmir Municipalities Act, 2000 (XX of 2000) and Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporation Act, 2000 (XXI of 2000), as enacted be taken into consideration by Lok Sabha.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh will send the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 to the Upper House for consideration and approval. The Bill seeks to prevent unfair means in the public examinations and to provide for matters relating thereto or incidental thereto, as passed by Lok Sabha.

Earlier on Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Finance Bill 2024, ending the Interim Budget exercise in the House of Representatives. The Union Finance Minister presented the interim budget on February 1, the second day of the ongoing budget session.

The session, which began with President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of two Houses on January 31, has been extended by one day to February 10. The hearing should have ended earlier on February 9.

First print: February 9, 2024 | 9:32 am IST