'Pappu' In West Bengal: 11 Highlights From Nirmala Sitharaman's Fiery Speech In The Lok Sabha

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave a reply on supplementary demands for grants in Lok Sabha on Wednesday (14 December).

She started her speech by quoting World Bank's report (India Development Update: Navigating the Storm released on 5 December 2022) and highlighted how the Indian economy has been managed well.

Sitharaman explained the breakup of supplementary grants being given under different heads. She then began answering the questions raised by different leaders. Here are the highlights:

MNREGA fund denied to West Bengal?

Sitharaman said that Rs 73,000 crore was allotted for MNREGA in the budget and now Rs 16,400 crore more is being given under supplementary grants.

However, MNREGA funds to West Bengal have been put on hold since March 2022 because of complaints received, the finance minister said.

Sitharaman said that an explanation was sought from the Bengal government but it has not been received yet and therefore, the funds are held back according to the MNREGA Act.

Tamil Nadu not given GST compensation?

Tamil Nadu alleged that a release of GST compensation worth Rs 10,000 crore is pending for the state. Sitharaman clarified that a claim of Rs 4,224 crore for the year 2020-21 was received just last week.

Also, no aegis certified claim has been received for the year 2021-22, she said. Sitharaman said that only Rs 1,200 crore compensation release was pending for Tamil Nadu and she doesn't get the Rs 10,000 crore figure.

Inflation

The finance minister said that the latest data on CPI proves that inflation has come down and is now in the tolerable band of RBI at 5.88 per cent in November, which is down from 6.77 per cent in October.

She targeted Congress by pointing out that the inflation was in double digits during their regime. "Inflation in November 2013 was 19.93 per cent and in October 2013 was 18.19 per cent," Sitharaman said.

"We will bring inflation further down but can they (Congress) ask us (to do so)?", the finance minister said while highlighting that the WPI (Wholesale Price Index) number is at its lowest in the past 21 months with 5.85 per cent in November.

Depreciation of the Indian rupee

Sitharaman brought up how she was earlier mocked for saying that 'the Rupee is not weakening, instead dollar is strengthening'. She stood by her remarks and cited data to suggest how Rupee has strengthened against every other currency, to prove her point.

"Against the dollar, we have performed much better than other emerging market economies... Indian Rupee depreciated 6.9 per cent only against the dollar between 1 April-30 November 2022," she said.

Only Thai and Malaysian currencies performed better than India, the finance minister said. She highlighted the Indian rupee's appreciation against Japanese Yen, Pound Sterling and Euro.

NPAs

"After the asset quality review in 2015, we followed the 4R (Recognise, Recapitalise, Recover and Reform) principle of getting the banks back to order and restoring their health," Sitharaman said.

"As a result, Non-Performing Assets (NPA) began increasing due to recognisation. Gross NPA ratio went up to 14.58 per cent in 2018 but after that the number started coming down," she further explained.

The number came down to 11.59 per cent in 2019, 10.25 per cent in 2020, 9.11 per cent in 2021 and 7.28 per cent till March 2022, the finance minister said while highlighting that the government has "handled NPAs much better."

For fishermen

Replying to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Sitharaman said that Rs 20,000 crore for five-year period have been given under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana for fishermen.

She quoted fishery minister Parshottam Rupala's tweets to highlight how this scheme will help small fishermen and pointed at commerce minister Piyush Goyal's efforts at World Trade Organisation (WTO) for the rights of small fishermen.

Welfare schemes closed down?

Citing the expenditure profile document, Sitharaman said that the schemes have not been closed down, instead, they have been rationalised in order to make them more focused and administratively efficient.

She gave example that how multiple agriculture schemes have been rationalised to come under Krishi Unnati Yojana, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, etc. "130 schemes are now clubbed together into 65 schemes and none of them have been shut," the finance minister said.

Minority fellowships discontinued?

Questions were raised over the discontinuation of Maulana Azad scholarships for minorities. Sitharaman said that this scheme was overlapping with many other schemes and hence has been discontinued.

"All the existing candidates under the Maulana Azad national fellowship scheme will continue to receive their fellowships till the end of their tenure," the finance minister clarified.

BSNL

Answering the allegations that the government is not doing anything to revive BSNL, Sitharaman said that Rs 60,575 crore is being given to the telecom company as supplementary grants and Rs 54,000 crore were given in 2019-20.

Explaining the breakup of the latest grants, she said, "Rs 18,127 crore for viability gap funding of rural wireline operations, Rs 49.37 crore for Champion Sector schemes, Rs 130 crore for research and development, Rs 30,156 crore for 900 MHz spectrum, equity infusion of Rs 3,013 crore for capital expenditure, 1,600 crore for restructuring of MTNL and reissue of 9 per cent non-cumulative shares for Rs 7,500 crore."

Reply to Mahua Moitra

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra had asked, "Where to find 'Pappu'? Who is 'Pappu'?", to which Sitharaman replied, "If only she looks into her own backyard, she will find 'Pappu' in West Bengal."

The finance minister pointed West Bengal "sits over wonderful schemes that can benefit common people, doesn't distribute it" and hence it doesn't need to search anywhere else for 'Pappu'.

Sitharaman also replied to Moitra's question, "Maachis kiske haath me hai? (Who has the matchstick?)" by saying that the public gives one a matchstick (power) in a democracy but how one uses that holds importance.

"After BJP's fantastic victory in Gujarat, the new government was peacefully sworn-in. Compare it with West Bengal. We gave Ujjwala, Ujala, PM-KISAN when we had matchstick. When you (TMC) had matchstick, there was arson, loot, rape, our workers' house were burnt," Sitharaman said.

Is India suffering from stagflation?

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that India is witnessing stagflation. The finance minister explained that stagflation happens when the economy is witnessing a slowdown along with high inflation.

"CPI is at 5.88 per cent, WPI is at a 21-month low so inflation is not high. Second, there is no slowdown as our country is the fastest-growing economy. Hence, stagflation allegations are not true," Sitharaman said.

On the repo rate also, she gave a reply to Chowdhury by citing how the repo rate was at 8 per cent in 2014 but is 6.25 per cent now. "Home loan rate is at 8.4 per cent today, but was at 10 per cent in UPA regime," she said.