AMN / WEB DESK
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that Narendra Modi government is committed to the deregulation of the economy and ushering in systemic reforms. She said what India needs is transformational, not incremental, changes. In an article in English daily, Mrs Sitharaman said the economy welcomed the breath of fresh air with the liberalisation of 1991. She recalled the political will of the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and the then finance minister Dr Manmohan Singh for liberalising the economy 30 years back.
Finance Minister wrote, during his first term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured the weeding out of 1,200 archaic laws and discarding 58 more in the second term. She mentioned that the previous government’s emotional but stand-alone call to remove poverty, garibi hatao, failed because it was not well thought-through. Mrs Sitharaman bemoaned that the past governments did not simultaneously build the necessary ecosystem for aspirational growth and choice for individuals. Highlighting the work done by the present, she wrote, every eligible and volunteering household got electricity (Ujala), a toilet (Swachhata) and a clean cooking medium (Ujjwala).
The Finance minister also said individuals and families receive cashless health care (Ayushman) and Life and Accident cover (Jeevan Jyoti Suraksha Bima). Mrs Sitharaman said, the smallest of businesses who have no security to offer can avail Mudra loans from 50,000 to ten lakh rupees. She reiterated that the government’s simple guiding philosophy is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas.