'UPA govt turned coal into ashes, but we turned it into diamond,' says Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha
The White Paper compares the alleged economic management during 10 years of the Congress-led UPA government with the what the government says are the positive outcomes of 10 years of the BJP-ruled dispensation.
FollowThe Lok Sabha is holding a 12-hour discussion on the ‘White Paper’ presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today. The document highlighted the corruption, scams, economic mismanagement and poor policy planning in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The White Paper was presented to the House in both Hindi and English by Nirmala Sitharaman. It included a summary of the UPA government's shortcomings as well as the actions the NDA government had made to improve the country's standing and revive the economy.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said:Â "You (UPA government) turned coal into ashes but through our policies, we turned the coal into diamond." Taking a dig at the Opposition, she said, "Could not handle the global financial crisis and today you are lecturing about how to handle it. Nothing was done to protect the interests of the country but continued scandals over scandals. They left the country in such a situation."
She said, "Equally when you don't put the nation first, when you put your first family first and when you have other considerations, then the results are there for you to see."
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"Two examples should be taken. The global financial crisis after 2008 wasn't as serious as COVID-19. Still, I would want to say that it was a crisis and the government should have handled it with sincerity and transparency," Sitharaman said.
The White Paper said that there were scandals in defence which compromised defence preparedness and the government delayed the acquisition of weapons.
