Jaitley launches media blitzkrieg to mark one year of govt

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today launched a publicity blitzkrieg marking one year of the Modi government saying it has eliminated political and governmental corruption, put the economy back on track and accused the Congress of adopting obstructionism to growth.

Maintaining that the BJP-led NDA government has created an environment of enthusiasm in which decision-making process has become transparent, he said the government's decisiveness in the face of obstructionism has been its hallmark with speed of taking decisions.

Addressing the first of the two dozen press conferences to be addressed by union ministers throughout the country, Jaitley asserted that the country is getting investment and there is a need to ensure ease of doing business and expand economic activity to achieve double-digit growth.

At the 90-minute media interaction, Jaitley, who is also the Information and Broadcasting Minister, answered a number of questions on economy and politics and how the government dispelled the general environment of gloom that prevailed during the UPA regime which encouraged crony capitalism.

He expressed confidence that the controversial land bill will be passed in the next Parliament session because "the numbers are clear". Similarly, the indirect taxation reforms measure Goods and Service Tax (GST) will be passed in the next session.

The Minister, who is also the media face of the government, disapproved of the remarks made by his ministerial colleague Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who had said those who want to eat beef could go to Pakistan or any other country.

He dismissed opposition criticism over the overseas visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his visit to 18 countries in the last one year has earned for the nation a special place in the world.