Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that some decisions of the Central government may not have been correct in the past seven years, and that “this government has not been accused of any corruption”.
Mr. Shah was speaking at the 94th annual conference of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
He told the industrial body that the government could find a solution to tricky issues such as Article 370 and the Ramjanmabhoomi temple without any bloodshed.
“Even critics of our seven-year government have to accept that there has been a lot of change in seven years; this government has not been accused of any corruption; you may find that some decisions were not correct, but no one can say that the intentions were wrong,” Mr. Shah said.
The Minister claimed that in the years before 2014, the country had not seen a government with absolute majority and decisive governance. “At that time, everyone believed that the government had undergone policy paralysis. Investors lost confidence; crony capitalism was at its peak; inflation was skyrocketing; we were nowhere to be found in the Ease of Doing Business [index]; the banking system was in shambles and with it the whole system was crippled by corruption and scams amounting to ₹12 lakh crore; and the people had lost faith in the government,” Mr. Shah said.
He said that institutions like FICCI should make efforts to increase research and development (R&D) capital investment in accordance with policy decisions.
“Development of the poor is essential for the improvement of the economy. Investment in welfare measures for the poor increases GDP,” the Home Minister said.
He said that despite many difficulties, the roots of democracy had deepened in the country and that “democracy has reached every village and democracy has become a way of life”.
“New policies have been made after ample consultation with stakeholders in every field and due to these policies, a new confidence has been awakened in the country today,” the Minister said.
