New Delhi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday hit out at the Congress, saying there was a ‘dark period’ in the country because of this opposition party, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government headed towards an ‘eternal period’ through financial inclusion and welfare schemes of the people. step has been taken.
Sitharaman said that our government is trying to take the country from the ‘Dark Kaal’ of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to the ‘Amrit Kaal’. Initiating the discussion on the budget, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had alleged that even though the government is talking of ‘Amrit Kaal’, it is actually a ‘dark period’ under this government.
Referring to Tharoor’s remark, the Finance Minister said, “There was definitely a dark period in the country, but it was only because of Congress. In 1991, our foreign exchange reserves were only left for two weeks, which was a dark period. Earlier there was darkness even during the Emergency.
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Sitharaman said, “The UPA government, especially in its second term, inflation was in double digits, that too was definitely a dark period… there was coal scam, there was 2G scam, there was space-Dewas scam. Corruption was reported in the morning paper every day… there was a policy paralysis. It was dark.”
The Finance Minister said in his reply that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by Rs 9.57 lakh crore in the financial year 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, the government did not allow inflation to go above 6.2 percent even during the once in a century pandemic.
He said that banks have sanctioned loans worth Rs 3.1 lakh crore under the Emergency Credit Facility Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). It is noteworthy that the MSME sector has been badly affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.
In his address of about 100 minutes, the Finance Minister said, “MSMEs still interested in taking advantage of this scheme are welcome. Loans worth Rs 3.1 lakh crore have been sanctioned under ECLGS. There is still scope for loan guarantee of Rs 1.4 lakh crore. This scheme has been extended till March, 2023.
He informed that Rs 2.36 lakh crore has been disbursed to MSMEs under the ECLG scheme. Sitharaman said that the Narendra Modi government has taken many steps to take the country towards ‘Amritkal’. He said, “Today due to Jan Dhan Yojana, all Indians are connected to all financial systems and Rs 1.57 lakh crore is deposited in these accounts. Of these, 55.6 percent accounts are of women. He said that 44 unicorns (unitities with a valuation of more than one billion dollars) were formed in the country in 2020-21, which is a sign of ‘Emrit Kaal’.
The Finance Minister said that the employment situation in the country is now showing signs of improvement. Unemployment in cities has now come down to pre-Covid levels. On the allegation of increasing inequality, he said that the government is promoting financial inclusion and providing loans under the PM Mudra Yojana. He said that under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana launched in the year 2015, 1.2 crore additional employment opportunities have been created so far. The Finance Minister said that the government has increased the allocation for various social security schemes in the budget. (agency)