DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 SITHARAMAN TABLES WHITE PAPER ON ECONOMY IN HOUSE Polls ahead, Govt says economy turned stagnant in 10 yrs of UPA It was a crisis, mending the economy step by step was a huge task, says FM AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 8 UDIT MISRA & AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 8 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. PTI Sitharaman said when the Narendra Modi government assumed office in 2014, the economywasina“fragilestate”;public finances were in “bad shape”; therewaseconomicmismanagement and financial indiscipline, and widespread corruption. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THEFRAMINGoftheWhitePaper on the Indian Economy couldn’t havebeenmoreovertlypolitical: the paper, authored by the Union Finance Ministry, startsoff saying “when we formed the government.” This is an unusual departure from tradition, said at least two former Finance Secretaries, adding that, institutionally,theMinistryisn’tsynonymous with the Government. This sets the tone for the paper which then goes on to flag FREE EDUCATION UP TO PG FOR STUDENTS FROM LOW-INCOME GROUPS Diya Kumari presents first Budget: Focus on job recruitment, farmers 70,000 vacancies to be filled, Rs 2,000 extra payment under PM-KISAN, hike in wheat MSP BY UNNY NEW DELHI, GUWAHATI, FEB 8 Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Diya Kumari arrives to present the interim Budget Thursday. Rohit Jain Paras ment’s tenure, constituencies such as Ladpura, Nasirabad, SiwanaandAhoreamongothers — from where Opposition MLAs were elected — were ignored, leadingtoanimbalanceindevelopment. In order to maintain re- gional balance, a provision of Rs 1,000crorehasbeenmadetodevelop the areas, she said. Diya Kumarialso announced that there will be no land tax, andanincreaseintheminimum CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DAYS AFTER announcing that a fencewouldbebuiltalongtheentire 1,643-km-long border with Myanmarforbettersurveillance, UnionHomeMinisterAmitShah said Thursday that the government has decided to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar to ensure internal security of the country and to maintain the demographic structure of NorthEast states bordering Myanmar. HesaidtheMinistryof Home Affairshasrecommendedtheimmediate suspension of the FMR. In a post on X, Shah said, “It is Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji’s resolve to secure our CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RBI leaves repo rate unchanged, food inflation uncertainty persists GDP growth for FY25 projected at 7%: Governor Das HITESH VYAS MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 8 DEMOLITION DRIVE SPARKS TENSION IN UTTARAKHAND, CURFEW IMPOSED P5 Suspending free movement along N-E border with Myanmar: Shah MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL & SUKRITA BARUAH JAIPUR, FEBRUARY 8 BUSINESS AS USUAL CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 ‘Move to secure North-East states’ HAMZA KHAN RECRUITMENT FOR 70,000 posts, free education from kindergarten to post graduation for low-income groups, Rs 1,000 crore for establishment and upgradeof schools,colleges, hospitals and administrative offices in “deprived areas”, Rs 2,000 additional annual payout to farmers under the Centre's PM-KISAN scheme and a Rs 125 per quintal hike in wheat MSP — these were among the major announcements in the Bhajan Lal Sharma government’s first Budget, a vote-on-account, presented in Assembly Thursday. Deputy Chief Minister and state Finance Minister Diya Kumari, who presented the Budget, alleged that during the previous Ashok Gehlot govern- the worst of the economy during UPA’s decade-long tenure. From bad loans to high inflation, a slew of corruption cases to policy paralysis, the paper’s political imperative is clear: to draw the battle-lines in the runup to the campaign for 2024. Its tone echoes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sharp attack on the Congress in his ● Parliament speeches earlier this week. It’s not a surprise, therefore, that the paper skips references towhattheUPAhasoftenprided itself on: GDP growth in its first termatover8.8perCENTduring E EXPLAINED THE UNION Ministry of Finance said Thursday that the decadelongUPAruleundertheCongressled government — 2004-05 to 2013-14 — turned India “from a healthy economy in 2004 to a stagnanteconomyin2014”.Itwas marked by strained public finances,corruptionscams,doubledigitinflation,ailingbankingsector following excessive lending during the boom phase, and policy uncertainty that marred India’s business climate and dented its image. The 59-page ‘White Paper on the Indian Economy’ tabled in Parliament Thursday by Union Finance Minister Nirmala White Paper red-flags NPAs, policy freeze, scams; skips credit for high growth years THE SIX-MEMBER Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Thursday left the repo rate — the rate at which the RBI lends to banks—unchangedat6.5percent for the sixth time in a row as uncertainty over food inflation con- Shaktikanta Das in Mumbai, Thursday. PTI tinuestoposeathreattoinflation. The RBI projected real GDP growth at 7 per cent and consumer-pricebasedinflation(CPI) at 4.5 per cent for FY2025. Its growth estimate for FY2025 is lower than the 7.3 per cent projected by the National Statistical Office (NSO) for the ongoing fiscal. The government, in the InterimBudgetfor2024-25, said the nominal GDP — without excluding the pace of inflation — is likely to grow at 10.5 per cent. Announcing the policy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, “Taking into account this growth-inflation dynamics and the fact that transmission of the cumulative 250 bps (basis points)policyratehikeisstillunderway, the MPC decided to keep the policy repo rate unchangedat6.5percent.TheMPC will carefully monitor any signs of generalisation of food price pressureswhichcanfritteraway CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Two killed in Srinagar were neighbours in Amritsar, moved out to earn a little extra PAGE 1 ANCHOR KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR AMRITSAR, FEBRUARY 8 AMRITPAL SINGH and Rohit Masih, who were killed in a militant attack in Srinagar on Wednesdayevening,hadarrived in the Valley earlier that day — the former after spending the winterathomeandthelatterfor the first time. Both men came from poor families in Amritsar The body of Amritpal Singh, who was killed in Srinagar, arrives at his home near Amritsar on Thursday. PTI and had taken up work in Jammu and Kashmir to support those at home. Singh, 31, died on the spot while Masih, 27, succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning in a Srinagar hospital. Sources said the suspected militants fired at them just outside their rented accommodation at Shaheed Gunj. Both hailed from Punjab’s Chamyari village and were neighbours. Late on Wednesday, Harjinder Singh Khaira, Station CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jaipur