NEW DELHI: India is the only major economy that is experiencing high growth and medium inflation at a time when inflation is stalking the whole world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
In his reply to the motion of thanks on President’s address in Rajya Sabha, Modi said that other countries were either battling high inflation or slow growth. “Inflation has affected the entire world—the US has the highest inflation in 40 years, Britain in 30 years and countries with euro as their currency faced unprecedented inflation,” he said.
Modi said that between 2015 and 2020, the rate of inflation in India was 4-5% but during the UPA regime, the Indian economy witnessed double-digit inflation. “Today, we are the only big economy that is experiencing high growth and medium inflation,” he said.
Modi said the government has decided not to go for global bidding for tenders up to ₹200 crore, in an attempt to strengthen India’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“In UP and Tamil Nadu, defence corridors are being built. The way MSMEs are joining the defence sector is very motivating. They’re coming forward and taking the lead. MSMEs have been connected to GeM (Government E-Marketplace) and it has increased government procurement seamlessly, “ he said.
Prior to the budget, the government distributed ₹64,000 crore among states for critical health infrastructure. “We did not want to highlight it in the budget and took the step as per needs. Announcing it along with the budget would have made the budget look even better, but we chose to do it earlier,” PM Modi added.
On employment, PM Modi said that compared with the pre-covid era, hiring has increased two-fold after the lockdown was lifted.
“1.2 crore new members were enrolled with EPFO during 2021, including 65 lakh (6.5 million) in the 18-25 age group. This same trend has been highlighted in a Nasscom report. Nearly 27 lakh people have got jobs in the IT sector in recent years, a new high,” he further said.
The youth has helped India feature among the top three countries in terms of startups globally, Modi said. From CoP-26 to G20 to the social sector to aiding 150 countries across the globe during covid, India has taken a leadership role, he added.
Attacking the Congress party’s rule, Modi said that Majrooh Sultanpuri and Prof. Dharampal were both jailed for criticizing Jawaharlal Nehru. Kishore Kumar did not bow to Indira Gandhi during the Emergency and he was banned from singing on the radio. Freedom of expression was curbed when people did not agree to “one family”, PM Modi further added.
“Some members asked, ‘If there was no Congress, what would happen?’ I would like to say, if there was no Congress, there would be no Emergency, there would be no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred, the problems of Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened,” Modi said. (Mint)
