Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday tabled a ‘white paper’ on the Indian economy in the Lok Sabha.
The Modi government had announced in the Union Interim Budget presented on February 1 that it would come out with a ‘White Paper’ to compare the economic performance of 10 years of the Congress-led UPA government with that of 10 years of the BJP-led NDA government.
A white paper is a government document which is presented to highlight new policies and achievements to gain support and to gauge public reaction. It is often bound in white cover.
In the white paper tabled in the Lok Sabha, the BJP-led government said that when the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, the economy was in a fragile state, public finances were in bad shape, there was economic mismanagement and financial indiscipline, and there was widespread corruption.
“It was a crisis situation. The responsibility to mend the economy step by step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous,” the government said in the white paper.
It further stated that the NDA administration chose not to release a white paper at the time regarding the appalling situation.
“That would have given a negative narrative and shaken the confidence of all, including investors. The need of the hour was to give hope to the people, to attract investments, both domestic and global and to build support for the much-needed reforms,” the white paper said.
It said the Narendra Modi-led government believed in “nation-first” and “not in scoring political points”.
“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,” the white paper said.
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