Honourable
Members, in this Basant season
of renewal and resurgence, I welcome you all to this Joint Session of both
Houses of Parliament. This is a historic session heralding the advancement of
the Budget cycle and merger of the Railway Budget with the General Budget for
the first time in independent India .
We gather once again to celebrate democracy, a cherished value and culture that
has prospered throughout the long history of our nation. Indeed, a culture that
guides my government towards Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. This year marks the 350th birth
anniversary of the great Sikh Guru - Guru Gobind Singhji.
We are also observing the one thousandth birth anniversary of the great
saint-philosopher Ramanujacharya. The luminous path of
social transformation and reform shown by them serves as a beacon for all, and
is an inspiration to my government.140
This year marks
the Centenary year of Champaran Satyagraha, which gave a new direction to
our freedom struggle and channelised160 janashakti in the fight against colonial power. Mahatma
Gandhi's ideals instilled in every Indian an indomitable self-belief, and
spirit of sacrifice for the larger good. The resilience and forbearance
demonstrated by our countrymen, particularly the poor, recently in the fight
against black money and corruption, is remarkable. Over 1.2 crore consumers
have voluntarily given up their LPG subsidy, which has helped the
underprivileged in accessing LPG connections. About 1.4 lakh villages, over 450
cities, 77 districts and 3 states have declared themselves Open Defecation Free. My government salutes the strength
of people and pledges to constructively utilize it in Rashtra Nirman.
Honourable
Members, at the core of all my Government's policies is the welfare of the garib, dalit, kisan, shramik and
yuva.280 My government is guided by
the Antyodaya philosophy of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. Financial inclusion is key to poverty
alleviation. An unprecedented 26 crore plus Jan Dhan accounts have been opened for the
unbanked. Over 20 crore RUPAY debit cards have320 been issued
to enable cashless payments. About 13 crore poor have been covered under
various social security schemes. To take the banking system to the
doorstep of the poor and the unbanked, the Indian Postal Payment Bank has been
started. The postal network with wider reach and deep penetration of over 1.5
lakh post offices will also function as postal banks. Besides the over 1 lakh bank-mitras appointed by banks, over 2.5
lakh Gram-Dak-Sewaks will also function as banking
correspondents. Over Rs 2 Lakh Crore has been provided through 5.6 crore loans
sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana420 to ensure collateral-free bank
financing for the unfunded, and to promote small businesses. Seventy percent of
this has been availed of by women entrepreneurs. Under the Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana,
which aims to empower women, particularly from the deprived sections, over Rs.
Sixteen Thousand crore have been made available to Self Help Groups in the
current Financial Year.480 The scheme aims to reach out to
nearly 5 crore women soon.
Honourable
Members, my Government has taken many initiatives to improve the quality
of life of the poor through assured housing, affordable healthcare, safe
drinking water and sanitation, and access to clean energy. My Government
is committed to provide shelter to every houseless poor household through the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana with appropriate interest subvention
on housing credit. Poor sanitation further weakens the economic
wherewithal of a poor household.560 Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims
to ensure health and sanitation, particularly for the poor. Under this mission,
more than 3 crore toilets have been constructed. The Ujjwala Yojana will make clean energy accessible to
the poor. This scheme aims to safeguard the health of women and children by
providing them with a clean cooking fuel – LPG, liberating them from the
ill-effects of smoky kitchens, and long hours of collecting firewood. Free gas
connections are being provided to 5 crore poor households.640
Already 1.5 crore connections have been provided in the current financial year.
It is noteworthy that 37 percent of the Ujjwala beneficiaries
belong to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Under Deen Dayal Upadhayay Gram Jyoti Yojana, out of the over
18,000 villages which have been in darkness since independence, over 11,000
have been electrified in a record time.700 Under UJALA programme,
over 20 crore LED bulbs have been distributed, resulting in savings of more
than Rs. Ten thousand crore in the electricity bills of consumers, majority of
whom are poor. Several steps have been taken to make healthcare
affordable and accessible to every citizen of our country, particularly the
poor. Mission Indradhanush commits
to vaccinate "every child everywhere” against preventable diseases. It has
so far benefited 55 lakh children. Special facilities created to control the
endemic Japanese encephalitis have yielded encouraging results in significantly
reducing mortality due to this disease.
Honourable
Members, in farmer’s welfare
lies the nation's prosperity.800 A favourable monsoon after
consecutive years of drought, supplemented by farmer-oriented schemes has
increased the acreage and yield of most Kharif crops. The sown area in the current Rabi season
has shown six percent increase in comparison to last year.840
My Government has taken various steps to transform the lives of our farmers.
Focus has been on holistic development of agriculture sector - making available
affordable credit, ensuring assured supply of seeds and fertilizers, improving
irrigation facilities, comprehensive risk coverage, improving productivity
through Soil Health Cards, assured market and remunerative prices for the
produce through e-NAM that is National Agriculture Market. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana expanded the ambit of risk-coverage,
doubled the sum insured, and facilitated lowest-ever premium for the farmers.
During Kharif 2016,
around 3.66 crore farmers were insured for a sum of Rs. 1.4 lakh crore.
With the objective of digitisation of all the live Kisan Credit Cards,
another three crore cards will be converted into RUPAY960 debit cards soon. The corpus of NABARD
fund has been doubled to Rs. Forty One Thousand crore to ensure easy980
credit access to farmers. With focus on Per Drop More Crop, more than 12.7 lakh hectares have been
brought under micro irrigation in the last two years. Honourable Members
may recall that soaring prices of pulses was a matter of grave concern around
this time last year. My government has taken proactive steps and prices of
pulses are now under control. To ensure fair price for farmers and to protect
consumers, a buffer stock of 20 lakh tonnes of pulses has been envisaged
against which 8 lakh tonnes of pulses have already been procured.
Honourable
Members, 65 percent of our population today is below the age of 35. Our
youth is our greatest strength and youth energy needs to be
effectively channelized. With the motto of "Har Haath ko Hunar”, my
government has taken several steps for skilling the youth1120
and improving their employability. The work of skill development that was
earlier spread across 21 ministries and 50 departments has been brought under
one umbrella Ministry. The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana has been launched with a budget outlay
of Rs. Twelve thousand crore, to train One crore youth over the next four
years. Over 20 lakh youth have already benefited. National
Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme has been launched with a budget
outlay of Rs. Ten thousand crore. 978 employment exchanges spread across the
country have been integrated as part of the National Career Service
Portal. My Government has opened new avenues and made higher technical
education more accessible to students from economically weaker sections. For
the first time, ITI trainees have been provided with academic equivalence at
matriculation and higher secondary level through bridge courses to enable them
to pursue1260 higher education. With the objective of
providing training of international standards to youth, a nation-wide network
of 50 India International1280 Skill Centres is being
established. The Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana has been launched for promoting
entrepreneurship education and training amongst 7 lakh students. My
government has announced a package of Rs. Six thousand crore to boost
employment generation and exports in the apparel and made-ups sector. This
package is expected to generate over 1.1 crore jobs, mostly for women.
Honourable
Members, several measures have been taken for the welfare of the shramik. For
the first time ever, minimum wages have been increased by 42 percent in both
agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. For bonus coverage, the calculation
ceiling limit has been doubled to Rs. Seven thousand, and the eligibility limit
increased from Rs. Ten thousand to Rs. Twenty One thousand.1400
This will directly benefit an additional 55 lakh workers. The Universal Account
Number has ensured portability of EPF accounts and has safeguarded the interest
of crores of workers. Workers employed in the informal sector will
benefit the most from my1440 Government’s decision to enable
employers to pay wages to their employees through banks. This will increase
compliance of payment of minimum wages. It shall ensure that workers in the
unorganized sector also enjoy health benefits under Employees State Insurance
Corporation and social security through Provident Fund. Implementation of
the 7th Pay
Commission has benefited 50 lakh employees and 35 lakh pensioners. To protect
senior citizens from the impact of interest-rate fluctuations, interest rate
for senior citizens has been fixed at 8 percent payable monthly for a period of
10 years. 1530
