Text of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Facebook post

Following is the Facebook post of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on one-year of BJP-led NDA government:
The fall of UPA's crony capitalism - A year of reform
Look back at the situation that existed a year ago before the NDA Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office. The Government wanted to centralize power in its own hands rather than promote non-discretionary and rule-based governance.
'For Sale' signs hung over all Ministries. Spectrum was allocated at throw away prices to the favoured few. Investors lost their investment. Ministers, civil servants, investors were jailed and prosecuted. Coal blocks were allocated at virtually no price. Environmental clearances were up for sale.

The Congress Party leaders had become rent seekers and name lenders. They were partners in a large number of companies which got coal blocks allocated.
The discretionary and arbitrary allotment motivated by collateral considerations led to prosecutions of many and a virtual paralysis of the coal mines sector. It had an adverse impact on user industries such as the power sector.
Even the former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was not spared on account of the self-destruct policies of the UPA. The courts had to intervene and cancel the allocations. The mining sector provided for a statutory mechanism of allocation based on the obsolete principle of 'first come first served'.

The State Governments - some of the poorest in the country - were taken for a ride. They got very little out of valuable resources such as mines in their States. Even gold imports were controlled by a few. This was crony capitalism at its very worst.