Ahmedabad

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley termed as “mere jugglery of figures” the Congress’ claim of drastic cuts in the social sector spending by the government.

Jaitley was here to brief media about achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the last one year.

Asked about Congress’s allegation that NDA government had drastically cut the social sector spending, Jaitley termed it “a jugglery of figures”.

“Earlier, the states’ share of total revenue was 32 per cent….14th Finance Commission suggested that Centre’s share should be decreased to 58 per cent while states’ share should be increased to 42 per cent,” said Jaitley.

“As we are giving more money to states, they are now spending more on schemes, while our share has diminished.

Thus, contrary to what Congress claims, we will be spending more, as money will now come from two pockets,” he said.

He also slammed Congress for questioning the Rafale fighter aircraft deal. “You can’t take 10 to 15 years to finalise a defence deal. This was a deal between India and France. Thus the decision was between one government and another. Congress should first study it and then make allegations,” he said.

On inflation, he said, the rate of inflation was 11 per cent when UPA left; today the consumer price index is 5 per cent while wholesale price index is running negative. “Though prices of some seasonal commodities, such as dal, have increased, the overall inflation has gone down,” he claimed.

Asked about President Pranab Mukherjee’s recent comments about Bofors scam, Jaitley refused to comment.

PTI