New Delhi| Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur has targeted former Finance Minister P Chidambaram for raising questions on the economy. Anurag Thakur has asked the former finance minister to come out of the virtual world of his despair and doomsday predictions. He said that it is clear that the lockdown saved lives, gradually unlocking gave the green signal to boost the economy. Anurag Thakur said that consistent reforms and strong fundamentals have ensured that India grew by 1.6 percent in Q4 of FY 2020-21 from a contraction of 24.4 percent in the first quarter of FY 2020-21. On Chidambaram’s dismal forecast of the Indian economy, Thakur said, “You Indian entrepreneurs, small businesses,
Anurag Thakur asked the former Finance Minister, is the Indian economy an isolated island, have other major economies of the world not faced GDP contraction in this pandemic? Don’t you know that France, Germany, Italy, UK have declined by 8.2, 4.9, 8.9 and 9.9 percent respectively? Canada, Russia, South Africa, US have also seen a contraction in their GDP in the last one year. Despite disruptions in a globalized world, India remains resilient.
Anurag Thakur said that till now a record GST collection of Rs 1.44 lakh crore has been done. We registered growth in passenger vehicle sales, two-wheeler sales, oil consumption, steel production, cement production, international air cargo among other sectors.
He informed that during the NDA tenure 2014-19, the government disbursed Rs 8 lakh crore versus Rs 3.74 lakh crore on the purchase of wheat and rice during the UPA tenure 2009-14. The Modi government bought 74 times more pulses at MSP in 2009-14 than it had purchased during the UPA regime.
The NDA government procured 306.9 million tonnes of paddy and 162.7 million tonnes of wheat in the last 5 years, while only 176.8 million tonnes of paddy and 139.5 million tonnes of wheat were procured during the 2009-13 period under the UPA.
Thakur said that the Congress party misled the farmers on the issue of agricultural laws and engaged in protests. Today the farmers are happy and here also the lies of Congress have been exposed.
Anurag Thakur asked Chidambaram that on one hand, he wants cash transfer, but on the other hand how many bank accounts did the UPA open for the poor during his tenure? The Modi government has stopped leakages in the system by opening 42 crores Jan Dhan accounts to ensure that every rupee reaches directly to the eligible beneficiary swiftly. It has even provided financial assistance to lakhs of people during the COVID pandemic through direct bank transfers.
