Nirmala Sitharaman alleges shortage of defence ammunition under UPA govt: 'No bulletproof jackets'
ALSO READ: Congress' 'black paper' vs govt's ‘white paper’: A look at last ten years from different perspectives "Bulletproof jackets were not available for our soldiers...Night vision goggles were not available, so in the night they couldn't do a thing and were exposing themselves like sitting ducks in pitch darkness...," she said in the Lok Sabha on Friday. Speaking about "corruption in defence" in the UPA era, Sitharaman said, "There was ₹3,600 crore of AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper Scam in 2013.
In some other context, in 2011, CAG had pulled up the Defence Ministry for delay in buying artillery guns. Defence was compromised continuously...Total ignoring of armed forces." She further talked about the steps taken by the Narendra Modi government to boost self-reliance in defence and expedite environmental clearances for faster economic development.
Sitharaman said the 'White Paper on Indian Economy' tabled by the government in Parliament was a "serious document" and reflects the dedicated efforts of the BJP-led government to bring the economy "back on rails" after 10 years of "economic mismanagement" of the UPA government. Her statement came amid Opposition leaders asking about the author of the White Paper.
ALSO READ: Budget 2024: White paper on pre- and post-2014 economy soon The White Paper, comparing 10 years of economic management of the Congress-led UPA government with that of the Modi government, was tabled in Parliament on Thursday. ALSO READ: Find out what Nirmala Sitharaman will bring to the table with 'White Paper' in Lok Sabha today RSP leader NK Premachandran had slammed the government, saying the government was apprehensive of the electorate in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and had brought the White
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