Pune: Hitting out at former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s comments on the alleged failure of the BJP’s ‘double-engine growth’, Union Minister of Railways and Commerce Piyush Goyal on Friday ticked-off the rampant corruption during the UPA regime while remarking that “every rule was disregarded and the basic tenets of transparency were discarded” under Dr. Singh’s leadership.
He reiterated that there was no question of privatization of Indian railways, and that it was – and always would – remain the country’s property.
Speaking in Pune, Mr. Goyal said that the UPA regime under Dr. Singh had bequeathed a doddering economy and that all sorts of scams – be it the Telecom scam of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore or the ‘Coalgate’ scam of Rs. 1.86 lakh crore – occurred during the erstwhile Congress-led government.
“There were scams exploding all around Dr. Singh, who only had one answer: that these are the compulsions of coalition politics…it is shameful that a PM is speaking of ‘compulsion politics’ to save his government rather than talking of national interest,” said the Minister.
“Being the Coal Minister, I have seen every one of those files and I was stunned that the so-called ‘honest leadership’ of Dr. Singh could have approved of these files and coal block allocations,” he said.
Mr. Goyal remarked that the fact that so much corruption thrived under Dr. Singh put “a big question mark” on his leadership and that of the UPA government.
He pointed out that the UPA government led by Dr. Singh had bequeathed an economy with double-digit inflation and skyrocketing prices.
“The fiscal deficit rose to 6-7% and its consequences had to be suffered by us for the next several years,” he said.
Mr. Goyal said he found it surprising that an eminent economist like Dr. Singh lacked even an elementary understanding of the changes that the BJP government has wrought about in the last five years.
“We too are running a coalition government. But in stark contrast to the UPA, the NDA has proved that a coalition can function for the country’s interests,” he remarked.
Categorically refuting suggestions that the Centre planned to privatizate Railways, Mr. Goyal, at the same time, said that in order to improve the condition of rail sector, the government was looking to increase investment from the private sector but by means of public-private partnerships
“Despite Congress rule for so many years, why is it that the Railways’ infrastructure increased only by a mere 30-35% while demand increased by 16 times. In this situation, it is natural that the Railways should be overloaded,” Mr. Goyal said, claiming that in the last five years, the BJP government had doubled the funds earmarked for improving rail infrastructure, while in Maharashtra, the funds had been quadrupled.
“From 6000 crore till 2014 [for Maharashtra], we have increased the outlay to Rs. 22,000 crore for improving rail infrastructure. Hence, we would welcome Public-Private Partnership in some areas as it is in the country’s interests,” he said.
Responding to a question on Nobel Prize winning economist, Prof. Abhijeet Banerjee slamming the present state of the economy, Mr. Goyal said: “I congratulate Dr. Abhijit Banerjee for his Nobel Prize. But his thinking is totally left-leaning as evinced in his support of NYAY.”
He further claimed that when the Indian public had apparently “completely rejected” Dr. Banerjee’s thinking, then the Centre did not take much notice.
Mr. Goyal further expressed confidence that the BJP-Sena Mahayuti would win “a massive mandate” in the upcoming Assembly polls, remarking that the election appeared to be “extremely one-sided”.
“This does not mean that the BJP or its workers are complacent. But I know that the public of Maharashtra have already made up their minds,” Mr. Goyal said, stating that all eight seats in Pune city would be won by the BJP and that the ‘Mahayuti’ would cross the projected target of 220 seats.
He refuted suggestions that the Centre had ‘borrowed’ funds to the tune of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore from the RBI, remarking that the funds were excess reserve stocks lying unutilized.
“Today, the RBI has reserves to the tune of Rs. 10-11 lakh crore and its requirement of such massive reserves and their utilization seem remote in the future. Even if the price of the US dollar comes down to Rs. 50, even then there are so many reserves that will not affect the Indian economy…and the possibility of that happening is remote,” Mr. Goyal asserted, remarking that he personally believed that the RBI could have given the Centre more funds.
While conceding that the demand had been slow the previous two quarters, he said that the prior to elections, the demand was generally subdued but expressed confidence that the government would be successful in reversing the slowdown.
“The Finance Minister has taken a number of proactive steps gauging the economy from time to time and I am sure that both investment and demand will pick up soon,” said Mr. Goyal.- Shoumojit Banerjee
