President Ram Nath Kovind has said the Constitution gives us the right to freedom of expression but it also expects that we abide by the laws and rules with equal sincerity.
Addressing the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament on the first day of Budget session today, he termed the recent acts of dishonouring the National Flag and showing disrespect to the auspicious occasion of the Republic Day as unfortunate.
He said the three farm laws enacted by the Parliament in the previous session aim at further helping the farmers in the country as they provide more rights and power to the farmers. Mr. Kovind added that over ten crore small and marginal farmers have started getting benefits from these reforms in the agriculture sector.
The President also said, in light of these benefits many political parties extended their full support to the reforms. The President however said the implementation of farm laws have been put on hold by the Supreme Court and the government will respect whatever is the decision of the Apex Court.
He asserted that the Central government has taken several measures to improve the condition of farmers in the country like implementation of the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan committee report on Agriculture. It has increased the MSP of crops by 1.5 times.
Talking about the fight against COVI-19, Mr. Kovind expressed satisfaction that due to timely decisions of government, lives of millions of people have been saved and the number of corona patients are gradually decreasing in the country. He said, the country has started recovering from the damage done to the economy by the COVID pandemic amid centre’s incessant efforts to save the life of every countryman.
He added that even in these difficult times, India has emerged as an attractive place for the investors of the world. He also said by making lakhs of corona vaccine doses available to several countries India has also fulfilled its obligation towards humanity in these times of difficulty.
Highlighting the several steps for the welfare of youth, the President said the Centre’s decision to end interviews in the selection process of Group C and D posts has greatly benefited the youth in the country. He said the Centre has also set up the National Recruitment Agency to relieve the youth from the hassle of taking numerous exams for appointment to government services.
The President said it is a delightful coincidence that the nation started construction of the new Parliament while moving towards the 75th year of Independence.
President Kovind said the government is fully committed to protect the interests of the country. Referring to the Galwan Valley incident, he said, additional forces have been deployed to protect India’s sovereignty over the LAC.
President Kovind said that under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 80 crore people were provided an additional 5 kilogram free food grains per month for 8 months.
He said the Government was also mindful of the plight of migrant labourers, workers and those who were away from their homes. He said, an amount of nearly 31 thousand crore rupees was directly transferred to the Jan Dhan accounts of poor women.
President also said that during this period, more than 14 crore gas cylinders were given free of cost throughout the country to poor women beneficiaries, under the Ujjwala scheme.
Highlighting the efforts of the Centre towards ensuring best healthcare facilities in the country, he said that under the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, 1 crore 50 lakh poor people in the country received free treatment of up to 5 lakh rupees.
President Kovind said that raising the standard of living of the villagers has been a priority for the Government. He said, this is best exemplified by the 2 crore houses built since 2014 for the poor families living in villages.
He said besides delivering water to every household under the Har Ghar Jal yojana, work on water conservation is also progressing at a rapid pace. President Kovind also underlined the construction of nearly 6 lakh 42 thousand kilometres of road in the rural areas of the country under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
Talking about women participation in the growth story of the nation, he said the Government has taken several decisions in this direction, such as appointing women in the Fighter stream of the Indian Air Force and the Military Police for the first time. President Kovind said, the Centre also came up with the ‘Suvidha’ scheme under which sanitary napkins are made available at a nominal cost of 1 rupee.
President Kovind said efforts are underway to transform Brahmaputra and Barak rivers as streams of development and this will benefit all sections of people in the North East.
Talking about development initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir, he said after becoming a Union Territory, elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Council have been held successfully a few months back. He said after the implementation of ‘Ayushman Bharat Health Scheme’, every family of Jammu and Kashmir is assured of free treatment worth 5 lakh rupees.
President Kovind said the development oriented policy of the Government has also received wholehearted support from the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Highlighting the reforms ushered in through the National Education Policy 2020, he said that under the new policy it is the first time that the students have been given the freedom to opt for the subjects of their choice.
President Kovind said after abrogation of provisions of Article 370 the people of Jammu and Kashmir, have been empowered with new entitlements. He also mentioned the commencement of the construction of a grand Ram Mandir temple in Ayodhya after the Supreme Court judgement.
President also informed that the country will witness the beginning of the ‘Amrut Mahotsav’ from this year which will mark the commencement of the celebrations towards the 75th year of India’s Independence.
Congress, Left, RJD, NCP, DMK, TMC, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party and others have boycotted the President’s address protesting against the farm laws.