White Paper vs Black Paper: How BJP, Congress took on each other

Both White Paper and Black Paper were released on February 8

Right before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled a copy of the 'White Paper on the Indian economy' in Lok Sabha on the economic performance during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's 10-year tenure, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge released a 'Black Paper' to target the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government.

The fierce attacks come right before the crucial Lok Sabha polls to be held in the country by or before May of 2024.

"In 2014 when we formed the government, the economy was in a fragile state, public finances were in bad shape, there was economic mismanagement and financial indiscipline, and there was widespread corruption. It was a crisis situation," the White Paper claimed.

On the other hand, the Black Paper released by the Congress party alleges that the Modi government's 10 years in power have devastated the country's economy, aggravated unemployment, destroyed the country's agricultural sector, abetted crimes against women and committed grave injustices against minorities in the country.

Black Paper vs White Paper: A look at what the two governments have said

What the Central government's White Paper says:

1. The UPA Government inherited a healthy economy ready for more reforms, but made it non-performing in its 10 years. The UPA government, in its quest to maintain high economic growth by any means after the global financial crisis of 2008, severely undermined the macroeconomic foundations.

2. One such foundation that was severely weakened by the UPA government was price stability. Inflation raged between 2009 and 2014 and the common man bore the brunt. High fiscal deficits for six years between FY09 and FY14 heaped misery on ordinary and poorer households. Over the five-year period from FY10 to FY14, the average annual inflation rate was in double digits. Between FY04 and FY14, average annual inflation in the economy was 8.2 percent.

3. During the UPA government's tenure, external commercial borrowings (ECB) rose at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.1 percent (FY04 to FY14), whereas in the nine years from FY14 to FY23, they have grown at a slower annual rate of 4.5 percent.

4. The UPA government's decade of governance (or its absence) was marked by policy misadventures and scams such as non-transparent auction of public resources (coal and telecom spectrum), the spectre of retrospective taxation, unsustainable demand stimulus and ill-targeted subsidies and reckless lending by the banking sector with undertones of favouritism, among others, claimed the white paper.

5. The coal scam shook the conscience of the nation in 2014. Before 2014, the allocation of coal blocks was done on an arbitrary basis without following a transparent process to allocate the blocks. The coal sector was excluded from competition and transparency and the sector lacked investments and efficiencies.

6. While investors across the world sought ease of doing business, the UPA government provided policy uncertainty and hostility. The unenthusiastic economic environment was reinforced by the hostile policy environment. The UPA government's policy inaction and missteps put off valuable private investment, which could have generated growth and jobs, at its own peril.

7. The banking crisis was one of the most important and infamous legacies of the UPA government. When the Vajpayee-led NDA government took office, the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio in public sector banks was 16 percent, and when they left office, it was 7.8 percent. In September 2013, this ratio, including restructured loans, had climbed to 12.3 percent largely because of political interference by the UPA government in the commercial lending decisions of public sector banks.

8. Under the UPA government, public finances were brought to a perilous state. For six consecutive years between FY09 to FY14, the ratio of India's gross fiscal deficit (GFD) to gross domestic product (GDP) was at least 4.5 percent. It was between 4.5 percent and 5 percent of GDP in three out of the six years, between 5 percent and 6 percent in one, and more than 6 percent in two years.

Here's what Congress' Black Paper says:

1. The total unemployment was 1 crore in 2012 but rose to about 4 crore in 2022. 10 lakh sanctioned central government posts remain unfilled. The unemployment rates for graduates and postgraduates is about 33 percent.

2. The price of crude oil on the world market fell by 21 percent between May 2014 and February 2024 - from over $100 to $79 per barrel, but fuel prices remain close to Rs 100 per litre. This raised the cost of all essential commodities.

3. Crimes against SC and ST communities have increased by 48 percent in 2022 as compared to 2013. A total of 31,516 rape cases were recorded in 2022 in India, at an average of 86 a day. BJP leaders have openly spread hate and violence across India on caste and religious lines.

4. While PM Modi promised to eliminate tax terrorism, his government has excelled in finding innovative and inefficient ways to tax Indians. By relying heavily on a poorly designed GST to make up for a corporate tax cut, the Modi government is taxing the poor, and small businesses, to subsidise large corporations.

5. The Modi government's policies have consistently helped its chosen large corporate friends through tax cuts, loan write-offs and favourable contracts and rules while neglecting small and medium enterprises and the informal economy. In 2019, the Modi government reduced the corporate tax slabs from 30 percent to 22 percent, with new companies paying only 15 percent. This resulted in a total loss of Rs 1.84 lakh crore.

6. With slow agricultural growth of 3.47 percent in the Modi period of 2014-15 to 2022-23, the dream of making higher income from agriculture seems like a distant reality. The government's survey shows that the average income of a farmer from growing crops is only Rs 27 per day.

7. Opposition-led state governments in Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Manipur fell after the BJP used blatant money power and threats of investigation to induce MLAs to switch sides.

8. Since 2014, a five-fold jump in ED cases against politicians has occurred; 95 percent of these politicians are from the Opposition.