Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday released ‘Black Paper’ highlighting Modi government’s failures in the last 10 years.
“We are releasing a Black Paper against the government because the government always glorifies itself in Parliament and hides its failures. And when we say something about their failure, we are not given a chance, so today we are bringing out the Black Paper here. It contains details about unemployment, which the BJP government never discusses,” said Kharge while addressing media.
Taking a jibe at PM Modi’s 90-minute reply to the Motion of Thanks on President’s Address in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Kharge said, “He (PM Modi) didn’t mention the employment generated by the public sectors like HAL, BHEL which were established during Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s tenure.”
Kharge further alleged the government of discriminating against all the non-BJP ruled states and neglecting them. “There is a danger to democracy in the country…In last 10 years, 411 MLAs were taken on their by the BJP. They toppled so many Congress governments. They are finishing democracy,” the Congress president said, sharpening his attacks against the Centre further.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also shared the document on X (formerly known as Twitter).
— Jairam_Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh)
10 Saal, Anyay Kaal: Details of Black Paper
The document released by Congress majorly focuses on 10 key areas including rampant unemployment, economic blunders, distressed farmers, abandoned workers, ‘Modani Raj’, betrayal of SCs, STs and OBCs, injustice against women, social disharmony, institutions’ subversion and compromised national security. Rampant unemployment
Congress in the official document said that the Anyay Kaal has witnessed the highest unemployment rate in 45 years. Total unemployment was 1 crore in 2012 but rose to about 4 crore in 2022. “10 lakh sanctioned central government posts remain unfilled. The unemployment rate for graduates and postgraduates is about 33 per cent – one in three are looking unsuccessfully for a job. This is why engineers are becoming coolies and Ph.Ds are applying for railway peon jobs. And this is also why two unemployed persons die by suicide every hour.”
Economic blunders
In the Black Paper, Congress claimed that the price of crude oil on the world market has fallen by 21 per cent between May 2014 and February 2024 – from over $100 to $79 per barrel, but fuel prices remain close to 7,100 per litre. “This raised the cost of all essential commodities. Blunders like demonetisation and a poorly-de-signed GST completely derailed the economy and destroyed job-generating small businesses,” it said.
Distressed farmers
Congress said that farmers were promised a doubling of their income but instead received pathetic MSP increases and the three farm laws railroaded through Parliament to “enrich the PM’s corporate cronies.” It stated, “700 farmers died fighting against these black laws. Insurance companies under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana have made a profit of 340,000 crore while one farmer dies by suicide every hour.”
Abandoned workers
India’s workers have experienced a lost decade, with stagnant real wages, said Congress. It claimed in the Black Paper that the wage growth has been less than 1 per cent per year for all rural workers, and salaried workers now earn less.
“Instead of manufacturing jobs or export-sector jobs, workers are pushed into contractualization or ‘self-employment. Economic blunders began this Anyay-Kaal even before COVID, but a nationwide lockdown with 4 hours of notice triggered a humanitarian crisis and disrupted the livelihood of 4 crore migrant workers. For weeks they walked with their families back to their homes and survived only because of the UPA’s MGNREGA scheme. Only billionaires get support from the Modi government, through corporate tax cuts and PLI handouts, while workers and MSMEs are required to be atmanirbhar in every sense,” the party document read.
‘Modani Raj’
Taking a jibe at the Modi government and businessman Gautam Adani, Congress stated that PM made a commitment before G20 world leaders in 2016 to lead efforts to “eliminate safe havens for economic offenders” and “remove the excessive banking secrecy that hide the corrupt and their deeds”. Instead he has neutered India’s investigative agencies and facilitated the expansion of his cronies into every strategic sector of the economy.
“SEBI, ED and CBI have been asleep as repeated exposes establish a clear link between money flowing out from the pockets of Indian coal utilities and electricity consumers via over invoiced coal imports and the funds flowing into Adani Group companies, inflating stock prices in complete violation of SEBI rules relating to minimum ownership,” it said.
SCs, STs and OBCs betrayed
The Black Paper said that crimes against SC & ST communities have increased by 48 per cent in 2022 as compared to 2013. “The government’s refusal to hold a Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate OBCs is an insult to those who are being denied representation in jobs and educational institutions because they are not being counted. Privatisation and contractualisation!’ represent a twin attack on reservations, especially in critical sectors like health and education,” it said.
Injustice against women
Congress slammed BJP and Modi government over surge in rape cases and injustice against women. The document claimed that a total of 31,516 rape cases were recorded in 2022 in India, with an average of 86 a day. “While rapes are on the rise, the conviction rate stands at an abysmal 27.4 per cent. Whether it is Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the BJP MLA implicated in the Unnao rape case or the Modi government’s approval of the early release of the Bilkis Bano rapists and murderers, or the cover-up of the Hathras rape case, the BJP seems to stand for rapists against the victims,” it said.
Social disharmony
Congress accused BJP leaders of openly spreading hate and violence across India on caste and religious lines. “Ministers have called for violence against minorities and garlanded mob lynching convicts. MPs and MLAs have supported rapists on communal lines, called for violence against mi-norities, assaulted Dalit women, and abused SCs, STs, and OBCs. Hate speech has reached new peaks, while caste atrocities like Una and Hathras shame the nation. Caste discrimination has been institution-alised in higher education. The BJP has also attacked entire states and communities for political gain, such as protesting farmers. Meanwhile Manipur has been burning for nine months l, with the BJP CM spreading hate, but PM Modi is silent,” said Congress.
Institutions’ subversion
All independent institutions of the country – judiciary, election com-mission, RBI, media etc, critical to maintaining a robust democracy stand compromised and subverted, said Congress. “Under Anyay Kaal, all checks and balances have been diluted with institutions turned into rubber stamps,” it said.
“Elected state governments in Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Manipur were undermined after the BJP used blatant money power and threats of investigation to induce MLAs to switch sides. Since 2014, a 5-fold jump in ED cases against politicians has occurred; 95 per cent of these politicians are from the Opposition,” the Party document said.
National security compromised
For four years, the Modi government has tried to cover up the worst territorial setback in six decades for India with its DDLJ approach: Deny, Distract, Lie and Justify, the Black Paper stated.
“Chinese troops continue to deny India patrols access to the strategic Depsang Plains, Demchok and other areas in eastern Ladakh. China continues to deny us access to 2,000 square km despite 18 rounds of military talks. Government sources have revealed how Indian troops have lost access to 26 out of 65 patrolling points and that the Modi government has agreed to buffer zones in which India cedes further territory,” Congress’ document highlighting Modi government’s failure said.
It further stated, “All of this was enabled by the PM’s 19 June 2020 clean chit to China – when he said “Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai”, a profound insult to our fallen soldiers in Galwan. Even today, the PM is afraid to name China. At a time when China is threatening our borders the Modi government has permitted tensions in the northeast to rise. In Manipur, 35,000 people have been displaced and around 1,700 houses burnt.”
Congress, in the document, claimed that over 180 people lost their lives and over 1100 were injured in disturbances that spread across Manipur from 3 May 2023. “This is the result of BJP’s “double engine” governments,” it said.
White Paper discussion today
Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that a discussion on the White Paper is scheduled to be held in Lok Sabha today (February 8, 2024).
“When our Finance Minister presented the Interim Budget, she mentioned the White Paper. It is necessary to inform about the kind of economic situation they (Congress) had left for the country in 2014,” ANI quoted Meghwal as saying.
The government had announced in the union budget presented on February 1 that it will come out with ‘White Paper’ to compare the economic performance of 10 years of the Congress-led UPA government with that of 10 years of the BJP-led NDA government.
Tabling the interim budget 2024-25 in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Modi government, which assumed office in 2014, overcame crisis of those years and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path,
“In 2014 when our Government assumed the reins, the responsibility to mend the economy step by step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous. The need of the hour was to give hope to the people, to attract investments, and to build support for the much-needed reforms. The government did that successfully following our strong belief of ‘nation-first’,” she said.
“The crisis of those years has been overcome, and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path with all-round development.”
She announced that the Government will lay a White Paper on the table of the House “to look at where we were then till 2014 and where we are now, only for the purpose of drawing lessons from the mismanagement of those years”.
“The exemplary track record of governance, development and performance, effective delivery, and ‘Jan Kalyan’ has given the government trust, confidence and blessings of the people to realize, whatever it takes, the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ with good intentions, true dedication and hard work in the coming years and decades,” she said.
The budget session, which is the last Parliament session before Lok Sabha polls expected in April-May this year, was slated to conclude on February 10.
