Congress Responsible For Misusing MGNREGA, Encouraging Ghost Accounts: FM Sitharaman In RS

Sitharaman said that though Congress deserves credit for bringing MGNREGA in the country, they are also responsible for misusing it.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha (Image: Sansad TV)

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replied to the discussion on Union Budget in Rajya Sabha today. Beginning her speech in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said the government went for a Budget that 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.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Infrastructure

Elaborating that the government's vision in Budget 2022 was to improve the infrastructure, the Finance Minister said, "Guidance which comes from PM Gati Shakti was essential as we needed to bring in greater synergy, greater complementarity between various infrastructure spending that we are undertaking because it is not to say that infrastructure spending never happened in this country."

Nirmala Sitharaman on Digital Technology

Sitharaman further highlighted the importance of emphasising digital technology in governance in the budget, which she said would aid in transparency in governance beyond easing the process for the common man. She cites the KISAN drone as an example and said that bringing in drones as an instrument or as a very effective tool for improving and modernising India's agriculture. She said that when you bring in a drone, it has got several adaptations.

The Finance Minister said, "By bringing in drones, we are able to bring in efficiencies in the use of fertilisers, pesticides & also make a good technology-driven assessment of the crop density & also possibly predicting the size of the output."

Highlighting that startups are being encouraged and a high-level committee for more resources in India to fund startups will also be formed.

Nirmala Sitharaman On Congress

Responding to the opposition's disagreement over the government's idea of Budget 2022, Nirmala Sitharaman said that during the UPA's regime India's vision was just supporting, building, and benefitting one family. She said, "Coming 25 yrs 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 yrs, when 65 yrs were with Congress that had no vision except supporting, building and benefitting one family."

Further slamming the Congress regime, Sitharaman said that though Congress deserves credit for bringing MGNREGA in the country, they are also responsible for misusing it as they encouraged ghost accounts that received the benefits of the scheme. The accounts were registered under the names of people who did not exist in reality but were receiving the money. 

She said, "It is a demand-driven program, meant to provide employment during lean season of agriculture. It is one thing to create a scheme, it is one thing to misuse a scheme, whereas what we are doing now is create and use it properly and transparently."

Nirmala Sitharaman On Economic Survey

Nirmala Sitharaman said that there was a small discussion on the figures being given by Economic Survey being different than those in the Budget speech.

She said, "Economic Survey draws its source from one particular set of data, the government looks at advance estimate which comes just before the budget. The advance estimate which could not have factored in Omicron, has been added, so there is some variance in numbers."

"Sources of calculation are different so you will get different numbers in the economic survey and Union Budget", said Finance Minister. 

Nirmala Sitharaman On Inflation

Comparing inflation figures from the U.S., Germany, and UK Sitharaman informED the House that "inflation management is an important job for finance ministries across the world," adding that WPI inflation is no longer the benchmark metric for measuring inflation. So CPI is what we look at, which RBI also looks at.

She added that since 2014, PM Modi has ensured that we keep our inflation contained...and it is every time brought back within 6% asserting that their management is robust.

She said, "CPI inflation of that time (before BJP) was 9.1%, for a reduction of only Rs 2.12 lakh crores. Global financial crisis hit us. But when the pandemic hit us, loss to GDP was 9.57% and our management of inflation was such that it was only 6.2%. The opposition couldn't handle lesser crisis."

Hitting out at the Congress party again, Sitharaman said that inflation was highest during UPA's regime. "Highest inflation this country endured was from 2010-2014 when retail inflation was more than 9% in 22 out of the 28 months", said the Finance Minister. 

Nirmala Sitharaman on MSMEs

Shifting her focus to the MSME sector,  Sitharaman listed out the various monetary schemes and allocations being given to the sector in light of the pandemic.

"It was mentioned that 67% of MSMEs were shut," she says, but they failed to mention that the 67% of MSMEs were temporarily shut. "Obviously if the lockdown is there, won't they be shut," she said adding that they are currently afloat using the credit guarantee scheme.

Opposition reaction on Budget 2022

Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday termed the Union Budget for 2021-22 as one “for the rich and by the rich” that reflected a “painful story” of the country and the bankruptcy of its economy.

It is the last day of the first part of the Budget session of Parliament today.

Sitharaman presented the Budget on February 1 that promised a significant increase in health and capital expenditure, and reforms including the privatisation of two state-owned banks and a general insurance company. It promised substantial government spending over the next five years and announced no major new taxes or levies.

In her reply to the Budget debate in Lok Sabha on Thursday, FM Sitharaman lashed out at the Congress and said that the grand old party brought reforms under compulsion. She also said that the inflation was double-digit during the previous UPA regime.