I respect him for his brief interventions in the house.
Most may not know that he was honoured as the outstanding parliamentarian in 2001. He was always very pleasing to listen in the House. A very old school Parliamentarian.
The nation shall always be indebted to #JaswantSingh for his contributions. To me, the biggest contribution by him was this one bill:
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill(and now Act).
Just giving the link to the introductory speech.
loksabhaph.nic.in/Debates/Result…
FRBM act was a landmark act.
The ramifications of it has been felt even today.
One of the key statements is 5(1), which said the GoI can’t keep on borrowing from RBI and walk to a debt trap. Remember this act was passed before the UPA came in and harakiried our finances.
This is how @orfonline describes the FRBM Act in chapter 55, p119-120 of “70 Policies that shaped India”.
orfonline.org/wp-content/upl…
FRBM Act ended up as a toothless tiger in the UPA era. In fact, the much stricter act was watered down after it was sent through a Standing committee. You want to make any bill impotent, just send it to a Parliamentary committee. Behind closed doors, they will make it a eunuch.
But, I always remember #JaswantSingh ji with immense respect for that one act.
He was the first person who dared to bell that cat. The mere existence of that Act had ensured that states and centre don’t bankrupt the nation chasing the freebie politics.
My respects
Om Shanti 🙏
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