Era of big ticket corruption has ended: Nirmala Sitharaman

Hitting out at Congress for making "baseless charges" against the Centre, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the BJP-led NDA government has provided corruption free government within a year and asked the opposition party to refrain from obstructing development.

"Our two major achievements are that we have successfully provided a corruption free and transparent government within a year. BJP-led NDA will sustain the tempo as it believes in accountability," the Minister of state for Commerce and Industry said here. Asserting that the "era of big ticket corruption" that marked Congress-led UPA regime has ended, Sitharaman said scams used to surface almost everyday during its rule but the Narendra Modi government has wiped out corruption at all levels and the process would be sustained for the next four years.

Claiming that BJP has also put in place a transparent government, she said a good example was e-auction of coal blocks after Supreme Court cancelled allocation of 122 blocks. The process was in sharp contrast to allocation of coal mines made in an arbitrary manner during UPA's rule and auction of only 20 coal blocks through transparent online bidding which earned Rs 2 lakh crore, she said. Congress, Sitharaman said, was ousted from power due to corruption and misrule for ten years and has lost all moral rights to attack BJP or dub it as "suit-boot ki sarkar." Refuting as "baseless and false" Congress' allegation that Modi government was favouring big corporate house, the BJP leader said over 14 crore poor people were covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana during January-February and the accounts brought around Rs 14,000 crore.

Asking Congress "to refrain from making baseless allegations and to play the role of constructive opposition", she said the opposition party must stop acting as a speed breaker before development works which are being undertaken by the BJP-led government. Maintaining that inflation has been brought under control by the BJP government giving a major relief to the poor, Sitharaman said over 7.5 crore people have already come under two insurance schemes and Atal pension scheme launched by the government which would benefit the poor immensely.

Denying that Modi government was anti-farmer, Sitharaman said provision for compensation has been announced for 30 per cent damage of crops, while quick steps were taken to facilitate exports of potato and check import of sugar. Steps were also taken to safeguard the interest of cotton growers, she said. Slamming Congress for opposing the land bill, the union minister said changes in the law was necessary to ensure smooth acquisition of land for irrigation works, construction of rural roads, houses and infrastructure development.

While the BJP-led NDA government was making sincere efforts to revive the economy and accelerate development, the Congress was trying to obstruct progress by opposing measures aimed at speedy development, she said. Describing BJP government's foreign policy as a "big success", she said the country's image has been successfully elevated abroad through diplomatic manoeuvres.

Besides showing quick response after the devastating earthquake in Nepal, the government also acted swiftly to ensure safe return of those stranded in Yemen, she said. Claiming that even foreign rating agencies have hailed India's performance, the Union Minister said according to them India's GDP has surpassed that of China.

Sitharaman said the government believed in cooperative federalism and worked in tandem with the states to ensure speedy and balanced development. A total 98 points of action were discussed at length with the states in the context of Make in India call by the Prime Minister and by the end of June its implementation would take place, she added