President Pranab Mukherjee addressed a joint session of Parliament ahead of the budget session which began on Tuesday.
Here are the highlights of President Pranab Mukherjee’s speech:
- This is a historic session heralding advancement of budget cycle and merger of general budget with rail budget for the first time
- Resilience demonstrated by our countrymen particularly the poor, in the fight against black money and corruption, is remarkable
- At the core of all my government policies, is the welfare of ‘gareeb’, ‘peedit’, ‘Dalit’, ‘vanchhit’
- Government committed to growth, ‘sabka saath sabka vikaas’. Voluntary giving up of LPG subsidy has helped the poor
- An unprecedented 26 crore plus Jan Dhan accounts have been opened for the unbanked
- Close to 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
- Over Rs 2 lakh crore has been provided through 5.6 crore loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
- Under Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana, over Rs 16000 crore have been made available to SHGs in the current Financial Year
- My government has taken many initiatives to improve the quality of life of the poor
- My government is committed to provide shelter to every houseless poor household through the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana
- Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to ensure health and sanitation, particularly for the poor
- The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana will make clean energy accessible to the poor
- 37 percent of the Ujjwala beneficiaries belong to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe
- Under Deen Dayal Upadhayay Gram Jyoti Yojana over 11,000 villages have been electrified in a record time
- Mission Indradhanush commits to vaccinate “every child everywhere” against preventable diseases
- My government has taken various steps to transform the lives of our farmers
- Soaring prices of pulses was matter of great concern around this time last year, my govt took proactive steps, it’s now under control
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My government is making ‘naari shakti’ an integral part of our development journey, they deserve equal opportunities
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PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Deepa illustrate strength of our women
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Social and economic equality for deprived sections is the first promise of our Constitution. Our government is committed to fulfil it
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The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme is yielding encouraging results
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Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan will provide comprehensive ante-natal care to all pregnant women
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The revision of Maternity Benefit Act will support pregnant women at the workplace
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With motto of “Har Haath ko Hunar”, my government has taken several steps for skilling youth & improving their employability
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National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme has been launched with a budget outlay of Rs 10,000 crore Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana launched for promoting entrepreneurship education and training amongst 7 lakh students
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By year end, all the meter gauge tracks in the north east will be converted into broad gauge lines
- To combat black money, corruption, counterfeit currency and terror financing, the government took decision on Nov 8, 2016 of demonetisation
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Four decade old demand of OROP has been fulfilled
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Our defence forces successfully conducted surgical strike to prevent infiltration by terrorists
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My government welcomes constructive debate on simultaneous conduct of elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies
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My government is thankful to the GST council for working to resolve the outstanding issues
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My government is committed to combat terrorism, and ensure that perpetrators of these acts are brought to justice
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India ratified Paris agreement, thereby sending a strong message of our commitment to combating climate change
- My government reiterates committment to fulfil aspirations of its people
Source: Rediff