Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaking in Lok Sabha on Thursday. (
She went on to give examples of things that were “expected” during UPA’s time, saying that those have been achieved by NDA now.
In a charged session of Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tore into the Opposition, saying that unlike Opposition, the NDA government is more implementation oriented and believes in quick delivery of public services.
During her speech, the Finance Minister said: “Words like banega, milega, ye sab ho gaya abhi… janata aajkal kya upyog kar rahe hain aajkal? Ban gaye, mil gaye, aa gaye… [words like will be done, will be given, are over… public is now using it is done, it is given, it has come].”
She went on to give examples of things that were “expected” during UPA’s time, saying that those have been achieved by NDA now.
Nirmala Sitharaman cited examples of electricity, gas connection, water connection, PM Awas shelter, toilets, roads in villages, highways among things she said that the NDA government has provided.
The Minister also mentioned that India is in a unique position of being optimistic and positive about its future growth when the global economy is struggling with the twin challenge of high inflation and slow growth.
Speaking during the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha against the Modi government, she also said that earlier governments used to sell dreams to people while the present regime is fulfilling the dreams.
“India was listed among five fragile economies of the world in 2013, but it has now become the fastest-growing economy in just nine years,” she said.
Sitharaman accused the previous UPA regime of wasting an entire decade, referring to its tenure from 2004 to 2014.
“In 2022, there was only three per cent growth in the global economy. The World Bank has said in 2023, it will decline to 2.1 per cent,” she said. Developed countries such as the US and the UK, and the Euro zone are facing challenging times, while big economies such as China are also facing their own issues related to consumer demand and wage stagnation, the finance minister said.
“In this background, look at the Indian economy from this perspective. In 2013, Morgan Stanley called India a fragile economy. The same Morgan Stanley has upgraded India,” she said.
She also highlighted various schemes of the government and said they all have benefitted people. Referring to the ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan of the Congress government headed by Indira Gandhi, she asked whether poverty could be actually removed.
