"I could have laid white paper in 2014...": PM Modi

New Delhi [India], February 9 (ANI): On the 'White Paper' being tabled in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing budget session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government could have brought the same in 2014, but the country would have lost its confidence.
The Prime Minister was adressing the Global Business Summit here in the national capital.
"10 years ago, before 2014, the policies on which the country was running were taking the country on the path of poverty. A 'White Paper' regarding economic conditions has also been placed in this session of Parliament...I could have brought this 'White Paper' in 2014 also. If I had to satiate my political selfishness, I would have brought it back in 2014," said PM Modi.
"I was shocked by the things that were revealed in front of me. The economic condition was worse. If I had revealed these things, then the country would have lost all confidence. People would have thought there would be no way to escape. Politically, it would have suited me. I left the path of politics and chose the path of national policy. Now that in 10 years we have come to a position where we can fight anything, I thought I should reveal the truth to the nation," he added.
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.
The White Paper said that when the BJP-led government formed in 2014, "the economy was in a fragile state, public finances were in bad shape, there was economic mismanagement and financial indiscipline, and there was widespread corruption".
"It was a crisis situation. The responsibility to mend the economy step by step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous. Our government refrained from bringing out a white paper on the poor state of affairs then. That would have given a negative narrative and shaken the confidence of all, including investors. The need of the hour was to give hope to the people, to attract investments, both domestic and global and to build support for the much-needed reforms. The government believed in 'nation-first' and not in scoring political points..."
"Now that we have stabilised the economy and set it on a recovery and growth path, it is necessary to place in the public domain the seemingly insurmountable challenges - left behind as a legacy by the UPA Government," the White Paper said. (ANI)