Trilok Singh
The former finance minister (FM) and a stalwart senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), passed away on August 24, who died in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at 12.07 PM. BJP veteran leader Arun Jaitley Ji, 66, was undergoing treatment at the hospital for a few weeks. Medically, He was unwell for a large part of the last two years. In 2018, Arun Jaitley underwent a kidney transplant surgery, following which he was put under isolation. Four years earlier, in 2014, former FM underwent a bariatric surgery to address the excess weight he had gained due to diabetes.
As per the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on August 24 condoled the death of former Finance and Defence Minister late Shri Arun Jaitley Ji describing it as a personal loss for him and recalled his significant contribution during Narendra Modi’s first term (2014-19) in making India the world’s fastest growing economy. He recalling his experience of working with former finance minister, “It was a pleasant experience for everyone to meet Jaitley Ji with a jovial personality and hold discussions with him. Today his departure has brought such a vacancy in the country’s politics and the BJP, which is not possible to be replenished soon.”
Further, The Union Minister has stated with his unique experience and rare ability, “Arun ji served various responsibilities in organization and government. An ardent speaker and dedicated activist, Arun ji held important positions like the country’s Finance Minister, Defence Minister and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.” He made an indelible mark as the Finance Minister of the country during the Modi government’s 2014-19 tenure and brought on ground Modiji’s poor welfare vision and propelled India as the world’s fastest growing economy, Mr. Amit Shah Asserted.
Significantly, “Be it the matter of taking action on black money, the matter of realizing the dream of ”GST”, the matter of demonetisation or the relief of the common man, in every decision of his, the welfare of the country and the people of the country was visible. The country will always remember him for his very simple and sensitive personality,”. “I pray to God to grant peace to the departed soul and give the bereaved family the power to bear this disconnection. Om shanti shanti shanti,” The Minister Remarked..
Several official facts said that, As a finance minister, he presented all of the Narendra Modi government 1.0’s budgets. Although, due to his ill health, he was unable to present the 2019 Interim Budget, which was instead presented by his colleague Piyush Goyal. During the Narendra Modi government’s first term in office, He was seen as the prime minister’s ‘go-to’ man. Greatly, He was the one to take on the responsibilities of temporarily handling ministries other than his primary portfolio of finance.
According to Jaitley, A fundamental question has always been asked as to what would one choose between good economics and clever politics. The choice is unfair because any Government needs both in order to survive and perform. The Prime Minister’s first tenure witnessed this blending of good economics and good politics. Such change, which was facilitated by the Jan Dhan Accounts and the AADHAAR, laid the foundation for Direct Benefit Transfer to those who needed State support. And Subsidies were no longer an unknown amount of money being distributed to an unidentifiable class of people. Subsidies in the form of transfer of facilities to the poor is an example of the blending of good economics and good politics.
As per his previous remarked, Crediting a “decisive” Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the evolution of the Aadhaar as a “game changer”, Unique Identity Number (UID) has helped the government save around Rs 90,000 crore in the last few years by eliminating several duplicate and fake beneficiaries. “The government estimates that Rs 90,000 crore have been saved in the last few years till March 2018 by the use of Aadhaar”. Hence, Several duplicate beneficiaries, non-existent beneficiaries and fake beneficiaries have been eliminated.
The villages get roads, the poor get houses, and every household got a toilet, a gas connection and an electricity connection. Fifty crore people got hospital treatment upto Rs.5 lakh per year. And their lives became liveable with at least these basics. To carry this path forward, completion of the rural housing being constructed and delivered to the poor, and the conclusion of the remaining part of the gas connection programme, the Budget 2.0 takes upon itself the task of concentrating, in the next five years, on a ‘tap for every home’.
For this, it is essential to clean up our rivers and have an adequate water management. The last five years had seen a lot of emphasis on infrastructure. However, The First Woman Finance Minister Nirmala sitharaman has rightly given top priority to infrastructure and this priority is self-evident in the fact that the rural roads programme connecting every village with a motorable road is nearing completion. The National Highways are moving at a pace faster than ever before. Adequate amount of allocations have been made in the Budget for this. The Budget 2019-20 On July 6 read.
Following the same, Modernisation of our cities with all-weather roads, an effective metro system, better urban roads are being given an impetus. The Government is committed to providing housing to the weaker sections in both rural and urban areas. A major tax incentive has been given to those who borrow to buy affordable houses. This move will not merely help the system to utilise the unsold stock of affordable houses but will also be instrumental in injecting liquidity into the real estate market.
Despite the above, The Cabinet has given its approval for implementation of an umbrella scheme of ‘Modernisation of Police Forces’ for years 2017-18 to 2019-20, with financial outlay of ₹25,060 crore, out of which the Central Government’s share will be ₹18,636 crore and the States’ share will be ₹6,424 crore. Special provision has been also made under the scheme for internal security, law and order, women security, availability of modern weapons, mobility of police forces, logistics support, hiring of helicopters, upgradation of police wireless, National Satellite Network, CCTNS project and e-prison project.
The direction of major economic reforms in the banking and financial sector has been maintained. Consolidation of public sector banks is being undertaken so as to have fewer but mega and financially strong banks. A sizeable allocation has been made for recapitalisation of banks so that their capacity to lend for growth improves. Further, The Budget also contains concrete proposals about support to the NBFCs whose liquidity, was under strain and had reduced the purchasing power of consumer. Although, The sectors most affected by this were real estate, automobiles and the MSMEs.
While Examining the Two Years of GST, Stalwart leader & Ex-FM ‘Arun Jaitley’ believed that, the monumental restructuring of one of the world’s clumsiest indirect tax system was not an easy task. The challenges to implement the GST were compounded by some outlandish and exaggerated comments of the not so well-informed. It would, therefore, be only fair to look back the last two years and analyse the implementation and the impact/consequences of the GST.
After two years, one can confidently argue, without fear of contradiction that GST proved to be both consumer and assessee friendly. The high taxation of pre GST era pinched the consumers pocket and acted as a disincentive against tax compliance. The last two years have seen each of the meetings of the GST Council reducing the tax burden on consumers as the tax collections improved. An efficient tax system certainly leads to better compliance..
According to TOI report, His other big achievements include setting up of a Monetary Policy Committee to set the inflation target of 4% with an allowance of plus or minus 2% and the further liberalisation of foreign investment rules. In addition, he took steps to stabilise the economy, which ensured India was no longer a part of the Fragile Five club. Not only did he raise GDP growth from 6.4% in FY14 to 6.8% in FY19, he also brought down consumer price inflation from 9.5% in FY14 to 2.92% in April 2019. For the poor, keeping a lid on inflation was perhaps his biggest achievement.
The consolidation of the banking sector was another major step initiated by him during his five-year term at North Block. He merged five associated banks of State Bank of India (SBI) and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with SBI, and also merged Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda. Budget reforms too were a part of his agenda. These included doing away with the artificial boundary of plan and non-plan expenditure and a separate railway budget.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s condelence message for Arun Jaitley’s family
Arun Jaitley Ji was a political giant, towering intellectual and legal luminary. He was an articulate leader who made a lasting contribution to India. His passing away is very saddening. Spoke to his wife Sangeeta Ji as well as son Rohan, and expressed condolences. Om Shanti. As per the PM twitted. With the demise of Arun Jaitley Ji, the PM said, I have lost a valued friend, whom I have had the honour of knowing for decades. His insight on issues and nuanced understanding of matters had very few parallels. He lived well, leaving us all with innumerable happy memories. We will miss him!
The PM added that, BJP and Arun Jaitley Ji had an unbreakable bond. As a fiery student leader, he was at forefront of protecting our democracy during the Emergency. He became a much liked face of our Party, who could articulate the Party programmes and ideology to a wide spectrum of society. During his long political career, He held multiple ministerial responsibilities, which enabled him to contribute towards India’s economic growth, strengthening our defence capabilities, creating people friendly laws and enhancing trade with other nations. Full of life, blessed with wit, a great sense of humour and charisma, Arun Jaitley Ji was admired by people across all sections of society. He was multi-faceted, having impeccable knowledge about India’s Constitution, history, public policy, governance and administration, In a series of statement, The PM asserted.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh condelence message for Arun Jaitley’s family
Deeply anguished by the demise of my friend and an extremely valued colleague Shri Arun Jaitley ji. He was a proficient lawyer by profession and an efficient politician by passion. He served the nation in several capacities and he was an asset to the government and the party organisation. He always had a deep and clear understanding of the issues of the day. His knowledge and articulation won him several friends. Jaitley ji will always be remembered for pulling the economy out of the gloom and putting it back on the right track. The BJP will miss Arunji’s presence. I extend my heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family, Defence Minister of India, Shri Rajnath Singh condelence message for Arun Jaitley’s family.
BJP Lal Krishna Advani’s condelence message for Arun Jaitley’s family
“I am deeply saddened to condole the passing away of yet another close colleague Shri Arun Jaitley ji. Besides being a big luminary in the legal arena, Arunji was an outstanding parliamentarian and a great administrator. A dedicated party worker for decades, he was someone who was inducted into the BJP core team when I was Party President and he soon rose to become one of the most prominent leaders of the party. Arunji was known and respected for his sharp, analytical mind and everyone in the BJP always depended on him for finding solutions to complex issues. He was also someone who valued and nurtured his friendship with people across the political spectrum.
As a person, Arunji will be remembered as a soft-spoken, erudite and warm hearted person. A food lover, he never failed to recommend good restuarants to me. Also on every Deepawali, he made it a point to come with his family to our home to wish us. Although Arunji was hospitalised for the last couple of weeks, we were all hoping that he would recover soon. His passing away is a huge loss not only to the BJP and the entire Parivar, but also to the nation. To me, it is a personal loss that has left a huge void. May his soul rest in peace. My heartfelt condolences to Sangeeta ji, Sonali, Rohan and all members of his family,” BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani remarked..
Moreover, Top Congress leaders on August 24 condoled the demise of former finance minister Arun Jaitley, with party chief Sonia Gandhi saying his contributions to public life will be remembered forever. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, in a condolence message, described him as an eminent lawyer, an excellent orator, a very good administrator and an outstanding parliamentarian. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet, “I am sorry to hear about Mr Arun Jaitley’s passing. My condolences to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.” While Sonia Gandhi expressed deep pain and distress at the passing away of Jaitley. She argued that, Jaitley had a long innings as a public figure, parliamentarian and minister and his contributions to public life will forever be remembered.
Former president Pranab Mukherjee stated that, he had visited him a day back and had prayed for his speedy recovery. “He was a leader with deep intellect and knowledge, and a voice of reason. He will be dearly missed. My prayers with his family, friends and admirers,” he said. As per the Congress party said, “We are deeply saddened to hear the passing of Shri Arun Jaitley. Our condolences to his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them in this time of grief.” In his condolence message to Jaitley’s wife Sangeeta, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said, “In his death our country has lost a great leader who always worked for the betterment of society.”
For a New India as developed nation and for Modi’s Transformative action Plans, This is a really very sad & a great loss.. “A great lawyer by profession, who served on the Atal Bihari Vajapyee cabinet. Between 2009 & 2019. When the ruling party sat in the opposition benches, he played a key role to decode the oppositions by using his intellectual power and property rights.. Jaitley’s role as the main troubleshooter for the Narendra Modi Cabinet, As per he helped a lot for party members and implemented many transformative policies such as GST, IBC, Bank Consolidation, Macro Stabilisation, and FDI Liberalization etc.. May the god comfort his family”! #RIP: Added, Youth Darpan CEO, Mr Trilok Singh. Thus, Following the above, ‘Arun Jaitley’ made India world’s fastest growing economy by introducing many transformative policies and economic reforms.
