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7 memorable quotes by finance ministers from past Budgets

CBI court’s summon of the erstwhile Prime Minister, <keyword id="6359397" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Manmohan-Singh">Manmohan Singh</keyword> as an accused in the coal block allocation scam, popularly called Coalgate scam has been giving nightmares to the Congress party. The party president <keyword id="689" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sonia-Gandhi">Sonia Gandhi</keyword> has left no stones unturned to understand the way outs for Singh in the case. 
 Sonia is learnt to be consulting <keyword id="30182" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kapil-Sibal">Kapil Sibal</keyword>, former law minister Ashwani Kumar , Ghulam Nabi Azad and <keyword id="63771" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mallikarjun-Kharge">Mallikarjun Kharge</keyword> among other legal minds of the country to challenge the court summons. 
 With Kapil Sibal and <keyword id="70470" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="KTS-Tulsi">KTS Tulsi</keyword> in defence, Manmohan Singh will appeal to the <keyword id="6354977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Supreme-Court">Supreme Court</keyword> against the CBI summons. 
 
 Over 100 party leaders and MPs had joined Sonia in a ‘walk for support’ for Singh this morning in Central Delhi. 
 As reported by <keyword id="76338" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Reuters">Reuters</keyword>, Sonia who rarely speaks in public off the campaign trail, rallied to Singh's cause in apparent recognition of his loyalty to her family. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

The curious case of Manmohan Singh

After being the favourite target of his government’s misdoings and scams that rocked the Parliament during his term, former prime minister <keyword id="6359397" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manmohan-Singh">Manmohan Singh</keyword> has been a man who is out of sight, but not out of minds of people yet. Not at least that of the investigating agencies. 
 
There have been those rarest of rare occasions when Manmohan Singh spoken about in the media especially after his retirement from active politics and his life, presumed to be going peacefully, at a low profile residence given to him in Delhi. 
 The latest news on the former prime minister, who led a hectic life as the leading man of UPA through the entire decade before the <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword> and its allies were trounced by Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2014 general elections, was that he was ‘visited’ by officials from CBI in connection with the coal block allocation scam that cost him both his as well as his government’s reputation. Owing to the sheer size of corruption that is alleged to have taken place, Coalgate will linger on people’s minds for a long time to come. 
 
Last time former prime minister Manmohan Singh grabbed headlines was when he was accorded the highest national order by the government of Japan, which acknowledged his contribution towards strengthening ties between both the countries. 
 
Another ‘little known’ fact that didn’t really make a huge noise was his decision to adopt Pachim Bekeli Gaon Panchayat under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. Pachim Bekeli Gaon Panchayat is located in Kamrup district of Assam, from where Manmohan Singh represents the Rajya Sabha. 
 
How is the workaholic politician and economist spending his retirement days? Going by his composure which remained undeterred by the most testing times his government went through while wading through difficult times, Manmohan Singh still presents a picture that involves work primarily. Only, now he gets to stretch his time as much as possible, since it is completely under ‘his’ control. 
 Earlier, as a PM, he met visitors barely for 10 minutes at his official residence. But, at a home that was given to him as a matter of entitlement for all former PMs, Manmohan Singh spends time attending meetings, and meeting people from various walks of life at his residence #3, Motilal Nehru road in New Delhi. This house was earlier occupied by former Kerala governor and Congress loyalist <keyword id="5267" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sheila-Dikshit">Sheila Dikshit</keyword>. Having moved into this humble abode, when compared to the sprawling residence he occupied as the Prime Minister, Singh spends most of his time reading. 
 
In fact, books were among the first few things that were packed and moved after he announced his retirement and decided on staying in this house. There’s nothing very ornate or flashy about the house that has now become home for the retired politician, who still commands a large amount of respect from people within and outside the party. 
 
He still enjoys a large amount of formidable security at this house, which is spread across two-and-half acres of land and gives him protected area to go for his favourite activity, apart from reading – long walks. 
 
Industrialists, economists and visitors – all get some share of his time much more than what they got earlier. Now, the meetings with people stretch up to half an hour, than those touch-and-go meetings that happened in a matter of few minutes when he was a busy man. 
 
Having been less of a politician and more of an economist, Manmohan Singh is still a force to reckon with for all the liberal measures he took during his tenure. He was re-elected as Rajya Sabha member last year, for additional six year tenure. 
 
Image: indiatimes

Manmohan Singh: Lost In Time?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Indian public sector banks had the "worst phase" under the combination of former Prime Minister <keyword id="6359397" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="manmohan-singh">Manmohan Singh</keyword> and RBI Governor <keyword id="6358908" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="raghuram-rajan">Raghuram Rajan</keyword>. Delivering a lecture at the prestigious Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs here on Tuesday, Sitharaman said that giving all the public sector banks a lifeline is today her primary duty. "I'm taking a minute to respond I do respect Raghuram Rajan as a great scholar who chose to be in the central bank in <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> at a time when the Indian economy was all buoyant, Sitharaman said during the lecture organised by the Deepak and Neera Raj Centre on Indian Economic Policies of the Columbia University. Asked about Rajan's comments during a recent lecture at Brown University in which he had apparently mentioned that in its first term, the <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> government had not done better on the economy because the government was extremely centralised and the leadership does not appear to have a consistent articulated vision on how to achieve economic growth, the minister said instead there were major issues with bank loans during Rajan's tenure as the central bank head. "It was in Rajan's time as Governor of the Reserve Bank that loans were given just based on phone calls from crony leaders and public sector banks in India till today are depending on the government's equity infusion to get out of that mire," she said. "Dr Singh was the Prime Minister and I'm sure Dr Rajan will agree that Dr Singh would have had a consistent articulated vision' for India, she said amid laughter from the audience. "With due respect, I'm not making fun of anybody but I certainly want to put this forward for a comment which has come like this. I have no reason to doubt that Rajan feels for every word of what he is saying. And I'm here today, giving him his due respect, but also placing the fact before you that Indian public sector banks did not have a worst phase than when the combination of Singh and Rajan, as Prime Minister and the Governor of Reserve Bank, had. At that time, none of us knew about it, she said. Sitharaman said while she is grateful that Rajan did an asset quality review, but people should know what makes the banks ailing today. "I am grateful that Rajan did an asset quality review but I'm sorry, can all of us put together also think of asking what ails our banks today. Where has it been inherited from, she said. The event was also attended by former <keyword id="2665691" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Niti-Aayog">NITI Aayog</keyword> Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya, professor and eminent economist <keyword id="45634" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jagdish-Bhagwati">Jagdish Bhagwati</keyword> and India's Consul General in New York, Sandeep Chakravorty. Sitharaman said: "While economists can take a view of what prevails today or prevailed years ago, but I will also want answers for the time when Rajan was in the Governor's post speaking about the Indian banks, for which today to give a lifeline is the primary duty of the Finance Minister of India. And the lifeline-kind of an emergency has not come overnight . Responding to the question, Sitharaman further pointed out that if there is a feeling that there's been a centralised leadership now, "I'd like to say that very democratised leadership led to a whole lot of corruption. Very democratised leadership. The Prime Minister, after all is the first among equals in any cabinet". "You need to have a country as diverse as India with an effective leadership. A rather too democratic leadership, which probably will have the approval of quite a lot of liberals, I'm afraid, left behind such a nasty stink of corruption, which we are cleaning up even today," she said.

Sitharaman now blames Manmohan Singh and Raghuram Rajan for India's banking crisis

<keyword id="6359397" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Manmohan-Singh">Manmohan Singh</keyword> gave a speech at Rajya Sabha, in which he said that the government’s mishandling of the ban on high-denomination notes amounts to "organised loot, legalised plunder." 
 After the speech, Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> walked over to his predecessor and shook hands when parliament broke for lunch. 
 Modi was accompanied by <keyword id="6355261" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Finance-minister">Finance Minister</keyword> <keyword id="42575" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arun-Jaitley">Arun Jaitley</keyword>. Jaitley was also seen talking to senior Congress leaders <keyword id="6360065" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ghulam-Nabi-Azad">Ghulam Nabi Azad</keyword> and Anand Sharma along with other opposition members who have attacked his reform aimed at fighting black money. 
 The opposition was adamant that PM Modi must speak on <keyword id="3315394" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="demonetisation">demonetisation</keyword> in Parliament, the government agreed thathe will speak on the issue in Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority. 
 
Dr Singh said that though he agrees with the PM's intent to flush out black money, the implementation of his initiative, which has forced long lines at banks for nearly two weeks, amounts to "a monumental management failure." 
 
That is also what other opposition leaders have alleged, arguing that a move meant to punish the corrupt and rich who hoard black money has left the poor in rural India, including farmers, stranded without cash.

After facing sharp disagreement on demonetization, Modi shakes hands with Manmohan Singh

From Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Manmohan Singh, these are the stated views of Congress Working Committee members on Sonia Gandhi's resignation

Dr <keyword id="6359397" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Manmohan-Singh">Manmohan Singh</keyword> feels that Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>’s <keyword id="3315394" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="demonetisation">demonetisation</keyword> scheme is a "travesty of his fundamental duty" and has lowered the confidence of more than a billion Indians to nil. 
 
Dr Singh, in critique published in The Hindu newspaper-"Making of a Mammoth Tragedy" – predicts a bad affect on GDP and jobs, and a tough period over the coming months, "needlessly so". 
 
He also write that this scheme would lead to "grievous injury" to the honest Indian and the dishonest black money hoarder will get away with a "mere rap on the knuckles." 
 
Earlier, Dr Singh said in parliament that the impact of the ban on high-denomination notes as "organised loot, legalised plunder". Now, his article elaborates on that view. 
 
"In one impetuous decision, the Prime Minister has shattered the faith and confidence that hundreds of millions of Indians had reposed in the Government of India to protect them and their money," he writes. 
 
"It is now evident that this sudden overnight ban on currency has dented the confidence of hundreds of millions of Indian consumers, which can have severe economic ramifications. The scars of an overnight depletion of the honest wealth of a vast majority of Indians combined with their ordeal of rationed access to new currency will be too deep to heal quickly." 
 
Taking a dig at the government, he says: "It may be tempting and self-fulfilling to believe that one has all the solutions and previous governments were merely lackadaisical in their attempts to curb black money. It is not so." 
 
He also describes what he feels about the note ban- checking tax evasion and fake money used by terrorists - as honourable and worthy of whole-hearted support. But, he points out, more than 90 per cent of India's workforce still earns wages in cash and more than 600 million Indians live in a town or village with no bank, who save their money in bigger notes. 
 
"To tarnish these as 'black money' and throw the lives of these hundreds of millions of poor people in disarray is a mammoth tragedy," he writes.

Manmohan Singh says demonetisation will have severe economic ramifications, a mammoth tragedy

The good boy of Indian government,Narendra Modi is on duty all the time, the <keyword id="6365387" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PMO">PMO</keyword> has said. It also added that no leave records of former PMs are available with it, according to a report by a news agnecy. 
 The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said this when an <keyword id="6356198" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="RTI">RTI</keyword> applicant sought a copy of leave rules and procedures for the Prime Minister of the country from it and the <keyword id="116854" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="cabinet-secretariat">Cabinet Secretariat</keyword>. "The Prime Minister can be said to be on duty all the time," the Right to Information (RTI) response from the PMO said. 
 The applicant also wanted to know if former prime ministers <keyword id="6359397" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manmohan-Singh">Manmohan Singh</keyword>, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral, P V Narasimha Rao, Chandrashekhar, V P Singh and <keyword id="12596" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajiv-Gandhi">Rajiv Gandhi</keyword> had availed any leave and were there any records. 
 "Information regarding leave record of previous PMs is not a part of records held by this office. However, it may be noted that no leave has been availed by present PM i.e. <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> since taking over charge," the RTI reply said.

Narendra Modi hasn't taken a single leave from office till date

<keyword id="2224" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congress-President-Sonia-Gandhi">Congress president Sonia Gandhi</keyword> has set up three separate committees for discussing policy issues related to economic affairs, foreign affairs and national security, with former prime minister Manmohan Singh part of all the three panels. While former finance minister P Chidambaram, and party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and <keyword id="6385492" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digvijaya-Singh">Digvijaya Singh</keyword> will be part of the economic affairs committee, Jairam Ramesh will be its convener. The committee on foreign affairs will have Anand Sharma, <keyword id="42749" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shashi-Tharoor">Shashi Tharoor</keyword>, Salman Khurshid and Saptagiri Ulaka. Khurshid will be the convener of the panel. The committee on national security will have leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, party leaders Veerappa Moily, Vincent H Pala and V <keyword id="927122" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vaithilingam">Vaithilingam</keyword>, with Pala as its convener. "The Congress president has constituted three committees to consider and discuss issues and policies related to the subjects of economic affairs, foreign affairs and national security," an official statement from AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said. Incidentally, among those nominated in the committees include senior party leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Veerappa Moily and Shashi Tharoor, who were part of the 23 letter-writers seeking an organisational overhaul of the Congress. While Sharma is the chairman of the AICC foreign affairs department, Shashi Tharoor heads the party's Professional Congress. SKC AAR

Sonia Gandhi sets up panel to discuss national security, economic and foreign affairs, Manmohan Singh to head all three panels

<keyword id="6359833" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Goods-and-Services-Tax">Goods and Services Tax</keyword> (GST) is the biggest tax reform introduced in India since independence, and is certainly a game changer. However, the process undertaken by the government to implement GST was no less than a game changer itself. 
 
Several aspects had to be taken care of, and the most important part of the whole process was to stay focused on the bigger picture, not bowing down to the political and administrative negotiations that came with it. 
 
It was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/topic/Narendra-Modi">PM Narendra Modi </a>who was the leader of the process, along with finance minister <keyword id="42575" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Arun-Jaitley">Arun Jaitley</keyword>, who served as the bridge between him and the stakeholders. 
 
How often does it happen that the key members of the leading party of world’s biggest democracy meet up with the opposition leaders and that too a month after losing elections in a key state. However, it was the commitment that BJP had for GST that made him, along with Jaitley and parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu had a meeting with former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, a month after BJP lost Bihar elections. 
 
The PM, sources say, said that India needed GST and then the FM took over, explaining to the opposition why their positions, like capping tax rate at 18% in the GST statute, had to be reconsidered. He added that while a poor GST was not an option, their other demands will be duly considered. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/removal-of-cesses-for-gst-would-cost-government-rs-65000-crore/articleshow/57793686.cms">Removal of cesses for GST would cost government Rs 65,000 crore</a> 
 Ever since then, the <keyword id="117924" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="GST-Rollout">GST rollout</keyword> became a big puzzle with several tangled knots, which could be and was solved keeping in mind one thing, that GST was too big a reform to fail. The idea was to unite the country in a fundamental way, and before a deadline but only after clearing every doubt that anyone had. 
 
As per officials that <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/how-modi-government-managed-to-solve-the-gst-puzzle/articleshow/57980627.cms">ET </a>contacted, Modi referred to GST as more than a tax reform at Cabinet meetings, exemplifying India's "unity in diversity," asking his team to prioritise GST. The FM, very smartly negotiated the terms so that political rivalries didn’t hinder the implementation process. 
 
In total, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/gst-council-clears-almost-allrules-except-for-remaining-four/articleshow/57959857.cms">GST council </a>had 12 meetings; however, from the second meeting itself, there were signs of political bitterness raising its head, which is why the government decided to seek consensus and encourage everyone to offer solutions. 
 
While taking care of the taxation, the government had to get into intense detailing with the tax administration, which is when it demonstrated that it had no intention of cornering states. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/markets/economy/gst-to-keep-an-eye-on-your-perks-outside-ctc/articleshow/57889157.cms">GST to keep an eye on your perks outside CTC</a> 
 
In the whole process, the leading party is said to have never shied away from reaching out to rivals, just so the GST could be passed without fail. It involved reaching out to CPM's Sitaram Yechury, SP's Ram Gopal Yadav, TMC's Derek O'Brien, BJD's Dilip Turkey, NCP's Praful Patel, and several other point-persons from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/politics/delay-in-implementing-gst-during-nda-government-led-to-rs-12-lakh-crore-loss-says-congress-party/articleshow/57892537.cms">Congress party</a>. 
 
The PM had a message for his team working on GST, which was to work at top speed without compromising with the quality. The team included hundreds of officials spread in small groups, solving difficult questions of both producing and consuming states and working for a period of more than eight months, including holidays and weekends. 
 
"It took us several months and many informal discussions to reach a consensus on how the final draft should look like," said a top official. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/no-gst-for-education-and-healthcare-this-year/articleshow/57972964.cms">No GST for education and health care this year</a> 
 
The work of these teams should be credited for the fact that the GST framework is ready three months before the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/markets/economy/eyeing-july-1-rollout-arun-jaitley-introduces-four-bills-on-gst-in-parliament/articleshow/57851897.cms">July 1 deadline</a>. 
 
(Image source GST Taxation)

Here’s how difficult the GST process was for the Modi government

According to media reports, the Central Bureau of Investigation (<keyword id="6354572" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="CBI">CBI</keyword>) has questioned former Prime Minister <keyword id="6359397" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manmohan-Singh">Manmohan Singh</keyword> in a case related to the allocation of the <keyword id="1928982" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Talabira-II-coal-block">Talabira II coal block</keyword> in Orissa to Hindalco in 2005. Manmohan Singh was in charge of the coal ministry at that time. 
 
Various media reports suggest that a team of CBI officers went to Singh’s residence and enquired him about two letters — dated May 7, 2005 and June 17, 2005 — that were sent to Singh by industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla. In the letter, Birla had requested to allocate the coal block to Hindalco. 
 
Earlier, a special CBI court had refused to accept a closure report filed in the case. It had also asked the CBI to examine the role of the former Prime Minister. “I am of the considered opinion that before the matter is examined further as to what offence, if any, stands committed or by whom the same has been committed, it will be appropriate that the then minister of coal be first examined qua various aspects,” Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar had said. 
 
The court had also noted that the letter written by Hindalco chief Birla “certainly raised eyebrows.” It further added that “The number of reminders which were sent by the PMO, as well as repeated telephonic requests seeking an early response from the coal ministry raises grave shadows of suspicion.” 
 
“There are certain circumstances which need to be elaborated and explained, especially regarding the manner and the circumstances under which the matter was taken up in the PMO or under what circumstances the recommendations of the 25th screening committee were set aside even though it already stood approved,” the court had said. 
 
Image: indiainsider

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7 memorable quotes by finance ministers from past Budgets

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Sitharaman now blames Manmohan Singh and Raghuram Rajan for India's banking crisis

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After facing sharp disagreement on demonetization, Modi shakes hands with Manmohan Singh

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From Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Manmohan Singh, these are the stated views of Congress Working Committee members on Sonia Gandhi's resignation

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Manmohan Singh says demonetisation will have severe economic ramifications, a mammoth tragedy

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Narendra Modi hasn't taken a single leave from office till date

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Sonia Gandhi sets up panel to discuss national security, economic and foreign affairs, Manmohan Singh to head all three panels

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Here’s how difficult the GST process was for the Modi government

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CBI Questions ex-PM Manmohan Singh

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