Sir,
I rise here to extend my outside support to the Motion of Thanks that has been
presented here. I am deliberately using this phrase because there are a large
number of issues on which we have very serious caveats. There have been a large
number of omissions in the hon. President's Address to the Joint Session of
Parliament, and, we think that these omissions are an indicator of the things
to come which do not augur well for our country's future and the people. So, I
would like to touch upon those issues, and, therefore, I have deliberately used
this phrase 'outside support'.
Secondly,
Sir, this is the last year of this UPA Government. We are supporting this
Government the explicit120
understanding of keeping the communal forces away from power but on the basis
of a Common Minimum Programme. This Common140
(1) Minimum Programme contains a large number of issues which are very
important for the future of both the country and the people. This is the only year left for this
Government to implement this Common Minimum Programme. I think there have been
a large number of omissions and a large number of weaknesses that need to be
overcome, and, in this year, we hope that the Government will be able to
implement this. What needs to be done for that is precisely what I would like
to concentrate on. I would like to begin with the preamble of the hon.240 President's Speech. The architecture of
inclusive growth is a noble idea. But what has been the reality and what is the
reality in our country today? If there is any architecture that I can see today
or the people can280 see
today, it is the architecture of an economic bipolarity (2) in India. On
one hand, you see that there are 48 billionaires in our country. They are all billionaires
in U.S. dollars and not in Indian rupees. I have nothing against them. But,
while that is happening, these 48 billionaires have a net asset value of 25 per
cent of India's GDP. On the other hand, the Committee headed by my esteemed
colleague has given the statistics that360
77 per cent of India is living on an income of less than Rs. 20 per day. This
is the economic bipolarity that we are seeing in our country.
If
you have a 'Shining India' on one side, there is a 'Suffering India' on the
other side. It is this gap between the ‘Shining India’ and the ‘Suffering India’420 that is widening. This is not the
architecture of inclusive growth. This is the architecture of exclusion of a
majority of my people or the majority of the Indian people. (3) It is
this architecture that has to be changed. Therefore, when we talk of
bipolarity, we are used to the fact that in the international atmosphere,
bipolarity was always associated480
with the Cold War. But, in India, you are developing a domestic bipolarity
which is actually turning out to be hot. Why am I using the word 'hot'? It is
because tensions are growing. The economic inequalities are widening. If this
is not corrected, all the visions that we may have of building a better India
or building a better future and all the potential that we have today will be
wasted. This course correction will have to be560
brought about by this Government. That is why, I am a little disappointed with
the first few paragraphs of the various economic measures that the hon.
President has outlined. He has said that inclusive growth means inclusive
governance also.600 I will
come to inclusive governance subsequently. But, many issues (4) of this
inclusive growth will come up when the discussion on the General Budget takes
place. So, I do not want to raise them here. My senior colleagues will make our
point of view on those issues.
Sir,
I would like to deal with the Paragraph-8 of the President's Address, where he
concentrates entirely on agriculture. He talks of the issue of agricultural debt.
I do not want to labour much on this point. But he has said that the targets
set for doubling agricultural credit in three years has been700 achieved. It is good that the target has
been achieved. But, then, as per the report of the National720 Sample Survey Organisation, 42 per cent of
borrowers in the agriculture sector have taken loans from private sources. The
bulk of your distress suicide is taking place within this section. If you have
a loan waiver scheme which excludes this entire section of nearly 42 per cent
of (5) our peasantry, then, I think this is a partial measure that we
have undertaken and not a complete measure.
Secondly,
the distinction between dry land and wet land has been made. The land ceiling given
for complete loan waiver has one meaning for an arid land and a different
meaning for an irrigated land. In arid region, we have known people who own five
acres or six acres of land. Even840
there, the percentage of suicides is the highest. So, this needs to be
corrected. It is shocking that the hon. President did not refer to suicides,
but apart from that, any measure that you take must ensure that farmers do not
slip back into the debt trap. You must expand your credit, but at the same
time, you must give them the Minimum Support Price. There are 24 agricultural
products to be given Minimum Support Price. But today we talk of a Minimum
Support Price only for rice and (6) wheat. Unless you bring all the 24
items under the Minimum Support Price system and unless an adequate price is
given to them with the expansion of credit facilities,960 you cannot resolve this agricultural debt.
We
are talking about increase in irrigation. But unfortunately, in this year's
Budget, there is980 actually a
huge decline in the amount allocated for irrigation. If this is what you are
missing out in the country, you are losing 200 per cent of your production
because you are not investing properly and managing properly. In our country
where there is a growing hiatus between the Shining India and the Suffering
India, this is something that cannot be accepted. So, immediately some
corrections will have to be brought about. The Government must take this into
account and give the assurance to the House and to the people that this will be
corrected.
The
other omission1080 which the
hon. President has made is that there is (7) no reference to the issue
of price rise that is taking place in our country. As the prices rise, the
income is shifted from the wage earner to the profit1120 earner. That is the economic meaning of
inflation. So, the burden is put on the common man and the common man is
suffering because you are unable to contain this inflation. This is the single most
economic hardship that the people of this country are facing today.
Unfortunately, there is no reference to it. Why is it that you are not able to
contain this inflation? This is a very serious disorder that is being created
in our economy and1200 that
needs to be considered by the Government.
The
Government's logic is that inflation is happening because there is greater
liquidity in the market. That means people are having more money to spend. So,
there is greater demand and inflation. It is ironic that our peasants are
committing suicide. If (8) you take the national average, it is one
suicide in1260 every 30
minutes. Inflation is taking place because prices of essential commodities are
rising. In the last three months, the1280
international prices of food grains have grown by 70 per cent. Internationally,
the prices are rising because of the speculation. Now you want to allow FDI to
enter your domestic forward trading market. By doing this, you are going to
expose yourselves to further vulnerability of this nature. I just cannot
understand this logic at all. So, we are urging the Government to reconsider
that ordinance. In this situation, if it becomes an Act, it is going to cause a
great disservice to the country and the people.
Sir,
the other issue that I would like to raise is the omission of women's
reservation. All of us have been actively asking for it. We have been asking
this Government1400 (9) to
bring the Bill and find out who is for it and who is against it. In fact,
cleaning of public life and representation of women in legislatures go
hand-in-hand. So, we are talking of a more laudable objective of1440 cleaning public life. The other issue,
which the President of India has really laboured upon in his speech, was
building our social and economic infrastructure. There is a lot of emphasis on
it. But the roadmap which the Government has prepared is that any further
infrastructural development programme in India will only have to be through the
Public Private Partnership. More
importantly, they talk of changes in the labour laws. You know it is very
important and sensitive to me because the entire social edifice in our country
is built by the labour class. The Economic Survey prescribes that the (10) working
hours of labourers should increase from 48 hours to 60 hours in a week. Is that
the road forward? What you are actually doing is widening this hiatus between the
‘Shining India’ and the ‘Suffering India’.1578
