Sitharaman claims MoD 'alive and kicking' after 'getting the weeds out'

Sitharaman accepted that the NDA government too had underspent its capital budget in its early years

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has mounted a robust defence of her ministry’s performance since 2014, when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formed the government.

Talking to journalists in New Delhi on Friday, Sitharaman said: “This is an alive and kicking ministry, which is no longer held back by policy paralysis. Things are moving and the military is fit and ready.”

Contrasting her decision-making with that of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) till 2014, she said: “Many procurements are happening now, we are moving quickly.”

Asked how the NDA was claiming greater and quicker procurement, when capital allocations to defence had