UPA term was India's dark decade,says FM Sitharaman

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday criticised the previous UPA govt and said India needs political stability, clear vision and intensive action on the economy, or the country runs the risk of having another "five years" of "red tapism", "corruption" and "policy paralysis". Stressing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target for 'Viksit Bharat 2047', she said development doesn't happen by default or without effort. Addressing an event organised by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India – Bengaluru Chapter, Sitharaman said, "It is a sea change between what we inherited in 2013-14 and 2024...where we have reached today. Development doesn't happen by default…development does not happen without effort."
Drawing comparisons, she said when the Vajpayee-led government was voted out in 2004, the economy had registered more than 8% full year growth in 2003-2004, average inflation for the fiscal year 2004 was under 4%. Gross NPAs (Non-Performing Assets) and public sector banks had become half of what it was five years before that."What Prime Minister Modi inherited in 2014 was a GDP growth less than 5% for two consecutive years 2012-13 and 2013-14. India averaged double-digit inflation from 2009 to 2014. Corporate investments slumped; inspector Raj, red tapism, tax terrorism were all the ingredients to what became a fragile five economy. Investment and infrastructure had collapsed so much due to the policy paralysis," she claimed."Capital expenditure as a percentage of total expenditure...had fallen to 16 per cent in 2013-14 from 31 per cent in 2003-2004. Pace of highway construction fell to a third while Vajpayee-led NDA government had added 24,000 km of National Highways in five years -- an average of about 4,800 km per year.In those 10 years, India went backwards, she claimed, calling it a "dark decade". Nurturing India's economy is what PM Modi has put on top of the agenda, Sitharaman said, adding, "We need to support him, we need to support the government... We have to take it up with complete transparency, without corruption...," she added.