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Speaking during the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, she said developed countries such as the US and the UK, and the Euro zone are facing challenging times, while big economies such as China are also facing their own issues related to consumer demand and wage stagnation.
”In 2022, there was only three per cent growth in the global economy. The World Bank has said in 2023, it will decline to 2.1 per cent,” she said. ”In this background, look at the Indian economy… In 2013, Morgan Stanley called India a fragile economy. Same Morgan Stanley has upgraded India, just in nine years, the fragile economy came out because of our government’s policy. There was improvement despite Covid,” she said. Taking a jibe at the ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan of the Congress government headed by Indira Gandhi, she asked whether poverty was actually removed.
”PM (Narendra) Modi has changed this completely. There is a transformation in our governance,” she said and asserted words such as ”Milega” (you will get) have been replaced by people saying ”Mil Gaya” (we have got it).
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Sitharaman talked in details about various steps taken by the union government through its tenure and compared it with the situation before 2014. The minister said defence exports have gone up, food production has increased multiple fold, and central schemes have helped people come out of poverty. ”UPA wasted a decade because of corruption and cronyism. Today, every crisis has been changed into an opportunity. We are living in high growth, low inflation, while it was the other way during UPA,” she said. The minister said the banking sector improved under the NDA government, and said they had to clean the mess created under the UPA rule. ”We realised banking sector needs to be healthy… We took a lot of measures. Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had said because of bad loans disbursed between 2008 and 2014, NPA had remained under carpet. We brought it out and corrected it, because of which we can see the performance of our banking,” she said. Taking a jibe at the Opposition alliance INDIA, the minister said it was difficult to figure out if they were fighting together or fighting each other. Sitharaman also made an extensive reference to Tamil Nadu in her speech.
Referring to the Sengol, she said, ”It was kept in some kind of museum, is it not an insult to Tamil pride? So when the honourable PM restored it to its rightful place in Lok Sabha it became an issue… This is an insult to Tamils”.
Responding to a point raised by DMK MP TR Baalu, the minister said, ”It is sad that the senior member said that it was ‘shameful’ that the PM has to borrow from Japan for building the AIIMS in Madurai. Land acquisition for the AIIMS in Madurai was delayed by the Tamil Nadu government, because of which the cost escalated, she said.
Sitharaman said financing the hospital is the responsibility of the Centre, and assured the members that nothing would be lacking. Soon after her reply on the matter, Opposition MPs, including those from DMK, Congress, TMC and Left parties, staged a walkout from the House, saying the minister was ”misleading” the House. The Finance Minister noted that Prime Minister Modi has referred several times to the state in his radio broadcast ‘Mann Ki Baat’, and also mentioned bull taming sport Jallikattu that is celebrated in Tamil Nadu. ”It was during the UPA when DMK was a partner that Jallikattu was called a barbaric game and was banned by the same UPA. Is it barbaric? It was permitted in 2016 by PM Modi,” she said. Referring to the Manipur incident, the minister said shaming and demeaning women is a concern for all whether it is in Manipur, Rajasthan or Delhi and should be taken seriously.
On DMK MP Kanimozhi’s speech on the Manipur issue, the minister said she wanted to remind her about an incident which happened on March 25, 1989 in the Tamil Nadu Assembly when the then Leader of Opposition Jayalalitha’s saree was pulled.
”It is a very sacred sabha, the Leader of the Opposition Jayalalitha’s saree was pulled in in the assembly. Her saree was pulled and the DMK members sitting there heckled her, laughed at her and made fun of her…” she said. ”Two years later she returned as CM of TN. That party which was in power at that time sitting in the assembly, leader of the opposition saree being pulled today talks of Draupadi…” she said.
The minister also extensively talked about measures being taken to control prices, and on the availability of tomatoes. ”Lot of steps have been taken to contain inflation. Group of Ministers has been taking timely steps to control prices which are hitting common people,” she said.
Sitharaman said Tur dal is being imported from Mozambique, Urad dal will be imported from Myanmar, while around three lakh tonnes of onions have been procured to create a buffer stock. Tomatoes are being procured from Maharashtra and Karnataka, and being distributed in Delhi-NCR, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengala and Rajasthan through NAFED and other cooperative societies. The NCCF has distributed 8,84,000 kg of tomatoes in these states, and in the coming weekend, NCCF is planning a mega sale of tomatoes in Delhi NCR region at subsidised rate of Rs 70 per kg. Tomatoes being imported from Nepal are also going to reach cities like Lucknow, Varanasi, and Kanpur soon, she added.