The "Paper" Politics - White Paper on UPA vs. Black Paper on NDA

Recently, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid a White Paper on the economy in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, outlining that the UPA’s 10 years in office created “an inheritance of loss” for the country and how the NDA Govt. “rescued the economy from a state of crisis, despair and paralysis”. Copy of the report is available on this Link ..an overview is as under:

• Part 1- Discusses the macroeconomic situation of India under the UPA government,where double-digit inflation, ailing banking sector following excessive lending during the boom phase, and high policy uncertainty marred India's business climate, dented its image and the people's confidence about their future, despite the Vajpayee-led NDA government having handed over a healthy and resilient economy with high growth potential in 2004.The part also discusses the mismanagement and short-sighted handling of the public finances during FY04-FY14. There were numerous scams bringing colossal revenue losses for the exchequer and fiscal and revenue deficits spiralling out of control. In 2014, NDA inherited a deeply damaged economy whose foundations had to be rebuilt to enable self-sustaining long-term economic growth.
• Part 2- Gives current status of the various corruption scams of the UPA government.
• Part 3- Shows how NDA turned the economy around, rebuilt the country’s image and rekindled people's hopes and aspirations for a better future. 
  

On the same day, the Opposition led by UPA released a Black Paper on the economy. You can check the excerpts of the report here Link

An overview is as under:

• NDA regime has given highest unemployment rate in 45 years. The total unemployment was 1 crore in 2012 but rose to about 4 crore in 2022 even though Modi promised 2 crore jobs annually, it said. Ten lakh sanctioned Central government posts remain un-filled and the unemployment rate for graduates is about 33 per cent — one in three are looking unsuccessfully for a job.
  
• It also said that India’s workers have experienced a lost decade, with stagnant real wages. Wages growth has been less than 1 per cent per year for all rural workers and salaried workers now earn less, was the observation of the Congress.
• The opposition party stated the prices of essential commodities are at all time highs. It said that the prices of commodities, if compared before and after 2014, rose by 120 per cent in case of LPG, 71 per cent in milk, 37 per cent in petrol, 64 per cent in diesel, 59 per cent in mustard oil and 59 per cent in atta.

The media has been debating about the claims and counterclaims in both the papers. 

What is your opinion, which of these papers seem objectively accurate to you? 

And will these papers have an impact on the way India votes? 

Or it is another attempt by the Govt. to focus on the past instead of the present? Lets discuss...

Thank you for sharing dear Tanu . Happy to read the efforts the Govt taken during its tenure . Through the white papers , the govt is letting the citizens know what steps it has taken to improve the economic position of the country. 

Am sure this will benefit the Govt and the citizens. Am not sure if this will have impact on upcoming elections . 

Originally posted by: Sutapasima

Thank you for sharing dear Tanu . Happy to read the efforts the Govt taken during its tenure . Through the white papers , the govt is letting the citizens know what steps it has taken to improve the economic position of the country. 

Am sure this will benefit the Govt and the citizens. Am not sure if this will have impact on upcoming elections . 

Thanks for the comments Suta. 

Yes it does seem like the Govt. will benefit from publishing these papers as it showcases the govt. efforts brilliantly. 

https://twitter.com/iAnkurSingh/status/1755986062067835178

https://twitter.com/mrs_roh08/status/1756273811253821740

So, the white paper has been brought in to show how much UPA govt tenure affected us and it has apparently taken 10 years for NDA to "fix" those blunders and sadly that's the reason why NDA has not been able to fulfill their promises that they made in their manifesto 

So lame. 

Originally posted by: sidnilove

So, the white paper has been brought in to show how much UPA govt tenure affected us and it has apparently taken 10 years for NDA to "fix" those blunders and sadly that's the reason why NDA has not been able to fulfill their promises that they made in their manifesto 

So lame. 

Definitely a diversionary tactics by the Government 

Originally posted by: Armu4eva

What is your opinion, which of these papers seem objectively accurate to you? 

There are some metrics such as GDP growth, inflation around an ideal rate (2%?), reasonable unemployment rate (3-5%?) etc., which shed light on how well a country is doing but they are not conclusive indicators of cost of living or quality of life. Purchasing power, quality of healthcare, quality of education, life expectancy, affordable housing, pollution levels, crime levels all matter on top of basics such as food, water and shelter.

If I am yearning for facts, I would look for a consensus among real journalists (national and international), statisticians, economists and historians. Objective truth is complicated! At most, what we'd get is normative truth (group truth).

And will these papers have an impact on the way India votes?

If the purpose of a rigorous analysis of economic data is to decide who to vote for, I am afraid that would be an exercise in futility. For one, not every voter would do (or is capable of doing) an exhaustive analysis and, two, not every voter shares the same "wants" or "needs" or "concerns" as you. Some voters could also be bought off.

Or it is another attempt by the Govt. to focus on the past instead of the present?

All political parties tend to embellish, exaggerate or outright lie without exceptions. Some do it more and some do it less. Some are more corrupt and some are less corrupt. We all have a general idea at this point which party stands for what. Specific to economy, for instance, it has to be noted that the UPA government went through a global financial crisis in 2008-09 and the NDA government went through a global covid-19 crisis which impacted the economies tremendously, so, ultimately, it's not so much about credit or blame but about the country's progress and development. The rest of the factors (mandirs, minority appeasement, corruption etc.,) are for each individual voter to assess and where they rank in terms of making a decision.