National security was compromised under UPA: Sitharaman

New Delhi, Feb 9: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that national security was compromised under the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government, which ruled the country from 2004 to 2014.

Defending the White Paper on Indian Economy tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, she said that inflation crossed double-digit during the rule of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Replying to the questions raised by the Opposition MPs on the White Paper in the Lower House, Sitharaman said that the document is based fully on evidence and facts.

She also shared various data and facts to establish every single point mentioned in the White Paper, exposing the UPA’s “corruption and fiscal mismanagement”.

Challenging the Congress and the opposition for terming the document as baseless, she said that everything mentioned in it is backed by evidence.

In fact, hours before her speech in the Lok Sabha, the Congress had called the White Paper “The White-lie Paper”.

Sharing evidence and facts, the Finance Minister went on to “expose” the erstwhile UPA government on one issue or the other, from corruption, scams, inflation to employment.

She said that between 2004 and 2014, the average annual inflation was 8.2 per cent, which touched 9.8 per cent during 2011 to 2014.

At some point of time, inflation also touched double digits during the UPA regime. When inflation in India was 9.8 per cent during the UPA regime, the global inflation was just 4-5 per cent, she said.

“This is their record,” Sitharaman remarked.

"Under UPA, retail inflation was more than 9 per cent for 22 months, our retail inflation was mostly at 5 per cent, never crossed 8 per cent," she said.

The Finance Minister also said that the unemployment rate for graduates dropped to 13.4 per cent during this government. Labour markets have witnessed a falling unemployment rate, declining from 5.8 per cent in 2018-19 to 3.2 per cent in 2022-23, she said.

Sitharaman claimed that 8,82,191 Central government vacancies have been filled up in the last nine years, adding that jobs have been given without any bribes, nepotism and favouritism, which were prevalent during the UPA rule.

Sitharaman also alleged that the Congress sold farmers’ interest in the WTO Bali Declaration. That time, the WTO declaration was signed by the UPA’s Commerce Minister about procuring India’s PDS buffer stocks through minimum support price (MSP).