PR ENGLISH SHORTHAND DICTATIONS: ENGLISH SHORTHAND DICTATION-381

Hon. Chairperson, Sir, I thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to speak on this White Paper on the Indian economy. This title ‘White Paper on the Indian Economy’ has got me surprised because when we talk about White Paper on Indian economy, we should also see as to what time frame we are talking about. They are talking only about the last twenty years. I would like to highlight what the status of the Indian economy has been before British rule, during British rule, and after Independence. Look at the Mughal period. We boast that India had¹⁰⁰ about 25 to 30 per cent of the world’s GDP. When the Mughals were ruling here, they ensured that¹²⁰ the wealth of the country stayed in the country and we were a prosperous nation. Subsequently, during the British Rule, we were systematically looted. When we got our Independence in 1947, India’s GDP was only about one per cent of the world’s GDP. After Independence, India faced the biggest challenge of nation building. When we got our Independence, there were so many countries which raised doubt and said that India would not stay as a nation and would²⁰⁰ disintegrate soon. This was the scenario in which the Government was functioning at that point of time. You also know the number of wars we had earlier with Pakistan and China. All these things had to be taken care of.²⁴⁰ At that point of time, the biggest threat to our nation was poverty. During that period, things like Green Revolution and White Revolution to improve agricultural production and milk production were focussed on. In fact, during that period, our GDP growth was probably one per cent or 1.5 per cent. In fact, we used to be ridiculed by people saying³⁰⁰ that this is the Hindu rate of growth. In 1991, the economy of the country was opened up and this resulted in overall financial growth. This Government has given this White Paper where they have talked about twenty years. I would like to go ten years further back and talk about the things which have been happening from³⁶⁰ 1994. In 1994, India’s GDP was USD 327 billion. In 2004, it went up to USD 709 billion, which is a growth of 115 per cent⁴⁰⁰ in that decade. It grew up to USD 2.01 trillion in 2014, registering a growth of 180 per cent. But it has grown only up to USD 3.6 trillion in 2024 and the growth rate is around 75 to 80 per cent.So, it has not even crossed 100 per cent. Had they done a better job, probably the GDP of this country could have touched USD⁴⁸⁰ 5 trillion.

Sir, one Rajya Sabha Member from the ruling party itself has made comments saying that the hon. Prime⁵⁰⁰ Minister does not know anything about economics and the Finance Minister knows nothing about what economy is or what finance is. So, this is a statement which has been made by their own party Member and they expect us to believe that the ten-year period of their tenure is a golden era and has seen great wonders. In 2014, when the present Prime Minister’s name was announced as a candidate, he had promised that he would be able to get people two crore jobs every year and Rs. 15 lakh by bringing back all the money from Switzerland⁶⁰⁰ which has been stashed away by politicians. He also said that the prices of gas and petrol would be reduced to half. They had also said that the exchange rate of the US dollar would be reduced. Today, after ten years, the Government is submitting a White Paper where there is no mention of any of these things. This White Paper has no mention of demonetisation, its effects and what it achieved. All the opposition parties have been asking for that. When the Government brought in demonetisation, the concept of demonetisation was that the amount of black money which was⁷⁰⁰ being hoarded was huge; the amount of counterfeit money was huge. They said that they were going to bring all⁷²⁰ that money back into the Government.

As per the information given by Reserve Bank of India, 99 per cent of the notes, which were printed by the Government, had come back. This only shows that the whole exercise of demonetisation was a huge failure of this Government and they have not mentioned a single word about that in this White Paper. Subsequently, we see how this Government has tried to take away the federal structure of this country. In 2014⁸⁰⁰ after the present Government had come into power, the 14th Finance Commission came out with a recommendation saying that the devolution of funds to the States should be increased from 32 per cent to 42 per cent. The⁸⁴⁰ Chairman of Finance Commission made a statement that the present Prime Minister opposed this and said that it should be increased only to 33 per cent. The Chairman said that he had to put his foot down and ensure that 42 per cent was devolved. But the Government, to overcome this problem, has increased the cess throughout the⁹⁰⁰ country from 2014.

If you look at the price of petrol during the Congress regime in 2014, the cost of petrol was Rs. 60, the actual cost of petrol was Rs. 40, the State tax was Rs. 10, the Central tax was Rs. 10, and cess would have been something around 0.5 per cent.⁹⁶⁰ But if you look at the present value of petrol, the cost of petrol is Rs. 50, the Central tax is Rs. 20, the State tax is Rs. 20, and cess is Rs. 20. That means they are taking away¹⁰⁰⁰ Rs. 20 throughout the country and they are not giving it back. In fact, if you look at the Government over the last two years, they have imposed something called windfall tax on oil companies. This windfall tax is for making excessive profits and they are saying that the cost of petrol and diesel is now market-driven and we will not be able to control that. Instead of calling this a windfall tax, you could have given the benefit to¹⁰⁸⁰ the people of this country where the price of petrol and diesel could have been brought down.¹⁰⁹⁷