NEW DELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley took on his predecessor P Chidambaram on Friday for his jibe that the chief economic advisor was a good doctor but the government a terrible patient, saying UPA had a “terrible doctor” for ten years that had pushed India to be one of the ‘fragile five’ economies in the world .
Replying to a debate on the budget in the Rajya Sabha, Jaitley said the country had recovered since BJP came to power in 2014 and was now being seen as a bright spot. “When you have a terrible doctor, even the healthiest of the patients are likely to disappear,” Jaitley said.
Referring to Chidambaram’s observation, the FM said a bad patient ends up being cured if there is a good doctor. He said the economy under NDA has covered the journey from “policy paralysis to structural reforms” which have taken out the economy from “being in fragile five to being a bright spot”. He said “from a basket case to the fastest growing economy” is the journey of transformation during NDA .
Targeting Chidambaram, Jaitley said, “I do believe that some people can make very good comment at us because they write and speak with right logic but I am not so sure whether they make the best administrators.” The FM also referred to seven sets of statistics on GDP growth, inflation, fiscal deficit and current account deficit (CAD) to draw a contrast between UPA and NDA, adding that “Data don’t talk alternative language”.
On Chidambaram’s criticism of the government’s decision to lower the corporate tax rate from 30% to 25%, Jaitley said he was stunned since it was the Congress leader who had first drafted a Direct Tax Code suggesting to reduce the tax rate on businesses. Alleging that Chidambaram had changed his view on corporate tax because he is now in the opposition, the FM said, “In some cases, where you stand depends on where you sit .”
The FM also said the government has brought standard deduction for the benefit of salaried taxpayers which could be expanded in future. Justifying the imposition of the long-term capital gains tax, he said there was a time to incentivise stock markets, but the economy is now on a strong footing. On the health insurance scheme, he said if the numbers are very large and hospitalisation is low, the cost of premium becomes less. “Niti Aayog has made some estimates. Let the work start and let them hold talks with the states. We have tried to raise ambition,” the FM said. Source : timesofindia