What is White Paper? India’s budget session extended by a day

During the current Parliamentary session, the Centre is expected to present a white paper on the economic mismanagement under the UPA regime.

According to news agency ANI, “The white paper will go into further detail about India's economic suffering and its detrimental effects on the economy. Additionally, it will discuss the advantages of taking constructive action at that moment.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be replying to the Motion of Thanks in the Rajya Sabha. The session has been extended by a day as 56 Rajya Sabha members who are retiring will be given farewell.

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In a recent interview to Network18, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the Centre intends to present a white paper to Parliament shortly.

"Everything that was unethical will be covered in the white paper, along with the potential benefits that the right decisions could have had at the time for the economy," she stated.

"We lost ten wonderful years. Problems plagued every sector of the economy, from mines to banks," Sitharaman said.

She said the government did not put out the white paper earlier as it did not want people to lose faith in it and institutions. "So, the PM first restored the economy, which is why a white paper was not put out earlier. The PM is never in favour of quick twists and turns," she said.

She claimed that since government did not want people to lose faith in them or its institutions, the administration had delayed publishing the white paper. The economy was initially stabilised by the PM, which is why a white paper was delayed. Quick twists and turns are seldom supported by the PM," she stated.

White paper will look at where the country was till 2014 and where it is now and where it is now, said Nirmala Sitharaman after presenting the Interim Budget on February 1.

(With inputs from agencies)