FM Nirmala Sitharaman Praises Budget, Calls Congress’ UPA Govts ‘Andh Kaal'

Sitharaman said, "MGNREGA was an act because of them (Congress), but MGNREGA's misuse was also due to them."

Countering claims of Union Budget 2022 being a deficient budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, 11 February, made a response in the Rajya Sabha to the discussion on the budget and said, “We went in for a Budget which would stand for continuity, which will be bringing in stability to the economy and predictability in taxation and also a vision for India at 100.”

Sitharaman’s response came as a response to several Members of Parliament (MPs), who have claimed that the Union Budget 2022 did not provide much to deal with the issue of inflation, unemployment, and had nothing for the poor or the middle class in the country.

Speaking on ‘Amrit Kaal,’ and taking a dig at the Congress, she said, “Coming 25 years are going to be important for India. No wonder we're calling it Amrit Kaal. If we don't have a vision for India at 100, we'll suffer similarly as first 70 years, when 65 years were with Congress that had no vision except supporting, building and benefitting one family.”

Resuming her attack on the Congress on Friday, the FM retorted to the party's saying that central government's policies are "remote-controlled", and said "this comes from a party where there is no party democracy and the policy was decided in 10 Janpath".

Replying to the Opposition's criticism of the budget in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Sitharaman had lashed out against the double-digit inflation and the several scams during the two terms of United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which she termed as 'Andh Kaal.'

"It’s not to say that infrastructure development has not happened in this country, but what we find over the decades that each project stands alone in its nature, and hadn't given the benefit which such an investment should have given us," she added.

"We thought if there is a greater synergy between all these public expended infrastructure projects, it should be to the point maximizing the outcome of such infrastructure which is getting built at least in the forthcoming 25 years," Sitharaman added.

She added:

"And therefore the 'Gati Shakti', guiding us for building infrastructure all across the country being the focus and stimulus to the economy."

Further, responding to the decrease in the allocation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), and attacking the Congress over the alleged misuse of the act, the finance minister said, "MGNREGA was an act because of them (Congress), but MGNREGA's misuse was also due to them; it was infested with ghost accounts. Take the entire credit for the misuse of MGNREGA. We use the scheme transparently and properly."