President Ram Nath Kovind highlights Modi govt's initiatives for poor, women and farmers

President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday highlighted the Narendra Modi government's initiatives for the poor, women and farmers -- the issues on which the Opposition targets the ruling BJP -- in his customary address to the Parliament, as he asserted that India has emerged as the one of the fastest growing economies with global investors putting in $48 billion in the first seven months of this fiscal.

Emphasising that the "achievements and successes are as limitless as the country's potential and possibilities" during his customary address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs at the start of the Budget Session, the President said that the "achievements are the milestones in the long journey to achieve "our ambitious goals".

Referring to 100 years of independence in 2047, he said, "we have to work hard now for building a grand, modern and developed India of that time. We have to ensure that our hard work leads to fruitful results in the end. We all have a stake, and an equal stake in this journey."

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He also highlighted the achievements of the government's mega Covid-19 vaccination drive while noting that 150 crore doses were administered to the country's citizens in a record time.

Just before he started his speech at the Central Hall, a group of DMK and Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu protested against the delay by the Governor in forwarding the Bill to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET exams.

During his 50-minute address, Kovind showcased the government's contribution to cultural revivalism citing the installation of Maa Annapurna Devi's statue in Kashivishwanath temple and creation of modern facilities for pilgrims, Swadesh Darshan and Prasad schemes.

At the same time, Kovind also spoke about the government "beginning to liberate the society from the manifestly arbitrary practice of Triple Talaq by making it a criminal offence" and removal of restrictions on women from performing the Haj as well as providing scholarship to minority students that led to a "significant reduction in the school dropout rate of Muslim girls and an increase in their enrolment".

Asserting that the government considers the ideals of B R Ambedkar as its motto and it provides top priority to villages, poor, tribals, backwards and Dalits, Kovind also referred to a series of initiatives taken by the government on handling pandemic, economy, defence production and MSMEs among others.

Painting a rosy picture on the economic front, he said India has once again emerged as one of the fastest growing economies and highlighted a variety of indicators like rise in GST collection and inflow of FDI among others to substantiate his point. He said the inflow of $48 billion (FDI) between April and October was a "testimony to the belief the global investor community has in India's growth story".

Referring to the initiatives taken in defence production, he said the sector is becoming increasingly self-sufficient and the armed forces have decided that it will not import 209 military equipment.

Amid activists claiming that hunger increased in the country during Covid-19, the President said "nobody remained hungry during the worst pandemic in 100 years" though several major countries experienced scarcity of food grains and faced starvation.

Kovind highlighted that the government provided over two crore houses to the poor, six crore households got tapped water and 44 crore poor added to the banking system.

On the farmers front, he said the government was working continuously to empower them and the rural economy. Despite the pandemic, he said, the farmers produced more than 30 crore tonnes of food grains and 33 crore tonnes of horticulture produce in 2020-21, while the government "made record procurement to match the record production".

Though the repeal of the controversial farm laws was not mentioned, he said agriculture exports have also registered a record level with an increase of 25 per cent and reached around Rs 3 lakh crore.

He also said the government gives maximum credit to small farmers and around Rs 1.80 lakh crore has been given to more than 11 crore farmers, which has led to a "transformation". The government is also making investments at an unprecedented level for developing infrastructure required near farmlands, he added.

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