“Whatever happened in Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) is very alarming and is almost like money laundering. Google Pay and PhonePe are two sitting time bombs. BHIM app is hardly used while Google Pay and PhonePe apps are used (widely). What is the government doing in a digital or cashless economy,” she said. 

JMM leader Vijay Kumar Hansdak accused the government of misusing the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, and Income Tax against opposition MPs. 

Hansdak said a white paper should be brought on the misuse of central agencies. “Their (BJP) government is running because of ED. Otherwise, they won’t be able to win elections,” he said as quoted by PTI. 

BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal said the corruption seen in the 10 years of UPA government was unprecedented. During UPA’s tenure, people would take loans and forget about returning them, he said.

Participating in the debate, Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) said the white paper is more rhetoric than substance. He urged the government to explain why average growth was higher at 6.8 percent during the 10 years of UPA while during the NDA period, it was 5.9 percent.

In case of fiscal deficit as the percentage of GDP, the average was 4.7 percent during the UPA rule, but it is 5.1 percent under the 10 years of NDA. The average inflation rate was 8 percent, which came down to 5 percent during the NDA government that came to power in 2014.

Owaisi also said the NDA government got the benefit of favorable crude oil prices and urged the government to tell the country how demonetization adversely impacted the country’s poor, PTI reported. 

IUML MP E T Mohammed Basheer said, “This paper is for BJP, by the BJP, of the BJP, and for the election of BJP.”

He further said that the Congress-led UPA government brought various important legislations like the Right to Information, and Right to Education, and introduced MNREGA for the welfare of the poor people.

This came after the Reserve Bank of India last month directed PPBL to stop accepting deposits or top-ups in customer accounts, wallets, FASTags, and other instruments after February 29, saying persistent non-compliance by Paytm with regulatory guidelines despite nudges over some time ultimately led to stern action against the fintech.

(With PTI inputs)

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Published: 11 Feb 2024, 10:10 AM IST