The Honourable Speaker, the President addressed both the Houses of Parliament in the beginning of 2017. The detailed blueprint of the way India has been transforming rapidly, the capability of the country's citizens, the way the villages and the poor farmer's life are changing, was placed before the House. I appeared before you to thank the President for his address and express my heartfelt gratitude to him.

The honourable Shri Mallikarjun ji, Tariq Anwar ji, Shri Jai Prakash Narayan ji, Shri Tathagata ji, Satpathy ji, Kalyan Banerjee, Jyotiraditya Scindia and many senior Members turned the discussion lively. Several aspects have been highlighted. And I express my gratitude to all the respected members who have participated in the discussion.

Yesterday an earthquake had struck. I express my concerns for those who are affected due to this earthquake, and the central government is in full contact with the states. The teams have also reached there to address the needs. But the earthquake has finally struck! I was wondering how and why the earthquake occurred now? Because the ominous symptoms have been there for a long time! There must be some reason why our mother earth has become offended.

Respected Speaker of Lok Sabha, I was wondering what caused the earthquake? When someone sees a sense of service or humility in a scam, not only the mother but also the mother earth becomes unhappy and that causes the earthquake.

The President talked about the power of democracy in his address. We know that whether any system is democratic or undemocratic, the nature of the people’s strength is totally different. Yesterday Our Mallikarjunji was saying that it was just because of the kind gesture of Congress Party that democracy is still in place and you were able to become a Prime Minister. Wow! What a couplet! It was a great favour that you did to the nation by saving the democracy! You are really great people!  But respected Speaker, the country knows the democracy of that party very well. The entire democracy was dedicated to just a single family. And during the era of 1975, Honourable Speaker, when emergency was imposed on the nation, India was turned into a prison. Lakhs of people, including the country's senior- most leader Jaiprakash Babu, were locked behind the bars. The freedom of the press was curbed. And they did not realize what the power of the people meant. Despite crushing the democracy, despite numerous efforts, this country had the power of the people that democracy was restored and even the son of a poor mother could also become a Prime Minister. And that is why the President had said about the strength of democracy. This is Champaran satyagraha’s Centenary year. The society does not get inspired merely by reading heaps of books on history. It is necessary not only to know the history but also to live history in every era. Whether we were present or not, our dogs were there or not; probably others’ puppies were there. We have not grown up following the traditions of dogs. But there were a lot of people in the country, even when the Congress party was not born. The people of this country valiantly fought the freedom struggle of 1857 and they fought together. There was no line of discrimination among communities and the lotus was present even then; and even today the lotus is there.

There are many people like me here who were born after independence. So, many of us did not get the opportunity to fight for independence. But have got the opportunity to live for the country and we are trying to do that.

Hon’ble Speaker, therefore, the country has witnessed immense strength of its people. Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji had his own dignity. On the days of the war, in the heart of every Indian, the feeling of India’s victory was entrenched. And at that time the country was ready to sacrifice food on the call of Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji.

We know today's political environment after the formation of the government. Most of the princely states, the politicians, the state governments, the central governments have almost abandoned the public identity and this is a major concern for democracy. An ordinary person like me had casually asked the public whoever could afford to give up their subsidies for gas, should give it up. We are generally cut off from the masses. When we were contesting elections in 2014, one party was contesting on the issue whether nine cylinders should be provided or 12. When we came to power, we left the discussion of 9 and 12 and rather asked the people whether those who could afford would give up the subsidy or not? We just said and more than 1 Crore 20 lakh people in this country came forward to give up the gas subsidy.

The pride of this government and the people sitting there is not limited to it. It is a symbol of power of 125 Crore people. And I request this House, the President, I want to request through the inspiration of the President, and to the decision makers and law makers in the political life of the country, to recognize the strength of our country’s citizens. We can create a positive environment to carry India to greater heights by adopting the concept of mass movement. They are working towards advancing the country. We will get better results than before.

And because of that the power will increase manifold. The country is going to grow. There is no person who wants a bad future. There is no one who wants degradation of India. Everybody wants the welfare of the poor. Everyone wants that the villages and the poor farmers get benefitted. I am not one of those who will say that efforts were not made by anyone before. I have repeatedly said in this house and also from the ramparts of Red Fort that every government, Prime Minister, has made its own contribution before.

We never heard the reference of the martyrdom of Chapekar brothers for freedom from the people sitting on that side. Neither did we hear the reference of Savarkar ji who was languishing in the jail of Kalapani while the country was liberated. Reference was never made even to Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad, who also sacrificed their lives for the country. They feel that only one family had freed the nation from colonial rule. The root cause of the problem is there only.

We should accept the country as a whole and therefore participation of the countrymen is indispensable. We have been told in the scriptures -

अमंत्रम अक्षरम् नास्ति। नास्ति मूलम् अनौषिधम्, अयोग्‍य पुरूषोनास्ति योजक: तत्र दुर्लभ:।

There is no letter, which cannot find a place in a mantra or verse. There is no root of any plant that has no potential in finding a place in the medicine. There is no human being who cannot contribute anything for the society and the country. A conduit is needed: योजक: तत्र दुर्लभ।

 This world has made every effort to link all the powers and strength. And the impetus was provided by the power of the people.

Campaign for cleanliness; I am amazed that even after so many years of independence we have not been paying attention to this issue. We take the name of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi ji had two beloved symbols. Gandhi ji used to say that if I wish to have something even before independence, then that is cleanliness. We came up before the country with this desire of Gandhiji. So many governments came to power, several Parliamentary sessions were held over the years. Has the topic of cleanliness ever been discussed in Parliament? Should we make cleanliness a part of the political agenda too? Who among you wants to live in dirt? Who in your area wants dirt? Neither you (the opposition) want nor us (the government). Nobody wants. But can we not move forward together to fulfil the dream of Gandhiji, to join this sacred task for the society? What holds us back?

And so, the Honourable Speaker, we take our discussion on the supremacy of the citizens’ power forward. Now, whenever we discuss on the President's speech, budget also comes into the scene. While discussing the budget, the Finance Minister will provide the details, but there is one question that needs to be answered - why was the budget pre-poned? India is an agricultural country. Our economy is based on agriculture. And the status of the agricultural is well known by Diwali. The problem is that we are still carrying the legacy of the British.

We almost complete the process of budget by May. After 1^st June Monsoon begins in India. It is impossible to use the budgetary allocations for three months. In a way, we have very little time to work. And when the time to utilise the funds almost gets over, for the last few days we know, the government knows how from December to March the funds are shown as spent! Now we should think about that. I do not criticize anyone. No one understood the reason as to why the budget was presented at five o'clock in the evening. It went on for many years after independence. Nobody thought why it was so and it continued to be presented at five in the evening. The reason was that the timing was according to the UK's Parliament; they received the budget in India from Britain at five o'clock in the evening. And we continued that system. And very few people know that if we hold the watch like this, then it shows Indian time, but if the clock is reversed then it shows the time in London. You can check if you have a watch.

In the same way when Atal ji’s government came to power, the time (of the Budget) was changed. When your government was in power, you had created a committee in relation to the timing of the budget. It had a detailed report. And you also wanted to change the time. And we had followed that very proposal, but you could not do it because your priority was different. It is not that you did not want to. But when will that fall under your priority. So, whatever has happened in your time, those things should be mentioned proudly. Now you too have forgotten. It is ok. I have reminded you of those things, you may take the benefit of it.

We shall also discuss about the railway budget in detail. But one thing needs to be understood. When the rail budget came 90 years ago, railway was the only major mode of transportation. Today transport has become a necessity and not only the Railways; there are different modes of transport. Unless we view the transport sector comprehensively, we will continue to face problems. Hence the focus will also be the Railway system. There is no problem with any privatization or of its autonomy. But the government should start looking at transport sector in totality and in a comprehensive way. Since we have come to power, we have made changes in the system of railways and in the budget.

You know that in the first budget, Gowda ji had said that about 1500 announcements were made and keeping everyone’s interest in mind, some provisions were declared. Then the politicians would go to their constituencies and brag about the things done. So why did we do this? I know, this leads to political losses. But someone has to take the responsibility and stop the wrong things that have been continuing in the country. And it suits the Bureaucracy. But I do not want such things to go on.

It is an attempt to take good decisions for the aspirations of the common man of the country. Try to do well. And so we are moving in that direction and doing this work.

Demonetization is another topic of discussion. From the very first day the government is insisting on the discussion on demonetization, but you all thought that if you see long queues on TV, then something might happen, and you can hold me guilty. You thought that by discussing demonetization Modi might take advantage of it. And so instead of discussing, you were interested in giving ‘TV byte’. Thus no discussion took place. It is good that this time you touched upon this topic and such a great change has come about. And I want the analysts to look closely at the time before May 2014. Questions were raised regarding how much was lost in coal scam? How much was lost in 2G scam, how much in water scam, how much in the aviation scam? How many lakhs went into it? Those were the voices raised from there in protest. I feel happy when the voices from there ask how much black money was brought back by Modi? What else can be a greater satisfaction in life than this? This only is the right step.

Then, Kharge ji said that black money was in diamond-jewelleries, in gold, in silver, and in property. I agree with your point of view but this House wants to know when did that knowledge dawn upon you? Because no one can deny that corruption starts with cash. It starts with cash. The result is the property, the Jewelleries and Gold. It begins with cash. You know that it is the root of all evils - Benami property, jewels, gold, and silver. You only tell me, in 1988, when Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country, you had the majority, even more than that of the time of Pandit Nehru, in both the houses. Everything, from the Panchayat to the Parliament was in your possession. No one else was there.

In 1988, you made the law of Benami property. What was the reason that the law was not notified for 26 long years? What was the reason that it remained suppressed? If it was notified at that time, then with the enlightenment that you have had today, the situation 26 years ago could have been better. One step towards the ‘cleanliness of the country’ could have been made. Who were those people, who after making the law felt that suppression of the law is more beneficial? Which family? You cannot escape. You have to answer the country. This very government has taken the first step against them with demonetization. And I want to tell the countrymen through this House today, howsoever rich you may be, you have to return the poor that they rightly deserve. And I'm not going to step back. I am fighting for the poor, and I will continue to fight for the poor. Neither the shortage of natural resources nor of human resources was the root cause of poverty in the country, but there was a section of people in the country which had robbed the rights of the people, as a result of which the country could not reach the height it should have.

One thing I would like to say. We know that a simple economy had developed. Suggestions were made to your government on this by your committees too. When Indiraji used to rule, Yaswantrao Chauhan ji went to her with this topic. And then he had said won’t Congress fight the elections? Your decision was not wrong. You were concerned about the elections. We are not concerned about elections, but about the country; so we took the decisions. That's why we take the decision. And it is certainly no one can deny that a system of 'how much cash, no cheque' has developed. And in a way you have made it a part of life. If you do not face it, if you do not come out of the situation, it will continue; and therefore we have taken the decisions.

How have you governed the country? It seems that Charvak's mantra has been entrenched in the hearts and minds of some parties. They would emulate Charvak's mantra, as nobody knows what happens to big shots after death!  Right now I’m mentioning about  Charvak’s elementary  sayings . When I go to the other house, I will mention it in detail, but Charvak said:

यवज्‍जीवेत्, सुखम् जीवेत्।

ऋणम् ऋित्‍वा, घ्रितम् पिबेत्।।

भस्मिभूतस्‍य देहस्‍य।

पुनार्गमनम् कुत:?

Enjoy as long as you live. There is no worry; so consume Ghee. At that time, Ghee was considered as auspicious, so they have asked to consume Ghee otherwise they would have asked to consume something else. But at that time according to Maha-Samskar,  the Rishis used the word ‘ghee’ that perhaps today would have been replaced with something else. But some people with this type of philosophy think that when the economy was doing well then why was such a decision made at such a time? That's right. You know if you have any disease and the doctor says that you need to be operated, and the operation is very important, yet he says that first you have to fix the body. Diabetes has to be controlled; he will give seven-eight-twenty advices and only then will do the operation. The Doctor does not proceed with the operation unless the patient is fit enough for it, no matter how serious the situation is. For Demonetisation this time was conducive as the economy of the country was healthy. If the economy was weak, we could not have carried it out successfully.

Second, do not think that the demonetization was done in a hurry or without considering the time. You will have to study Modi for this. In our country, the amount of business that takes place in the whole year, almost the same business is generated during Diwali. That is 50% of the year’s business takes place around Diwali and 50% in the rest of the year. In a way, all business activities reach the zenith around Diwali. After that a natural lull period follows in our country. After Diwali, the shopkeepers also take around 15 days off, people also go on vacations. The time was ripe as the peak time of the business was over and one could handle the difficulties for 15-20 days and everything would be normal within 50 days. I believe my calculations were right.

And you are aware of the fact that there was a time when the Income Tax officials in the country used to intimidate and threaten and the rest is well known.

After the demonetization, all things are on record. Where did the money come from, who brought it, where was it deposited? Now the top names in it are known by technology through data-mining. Now there is no need to go to the Income Tax office. One can enquire about the details through SMS. And this, I believe, has provided the opportunity for a Clean India. Just as my campaign of 'Swachh Bharat' is progressing, similarly the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' is also progressing very fast in the economic sphere.

And the law on Benami property has been passed and notified. And just like Kharge ji has said, everything is included there. You have given good suggestions. We will also do the needful. If you read the provisions of the law you will understand that it has been made stringent. I request the people who have Benami property to come to ask their Chartered Accountants about the provisions of the Act and to enter into the mainstream and contribute to help the poor of the country.

Whoever feels that this decision has been taken abruptly, I want to clarify that the day our government was formed, the first thing done in the Cabinet was to create a SIT. The Supreme Court had said that the idea of the formation of SIT for investigating the black money abroad had been long stuck up. We formed the SIT and that too on the guidelines of the Supreme Court. And on 26 March, 2014, the Supreme Court had said, “Since 1947 for 65 Years nobody thought of bringing the money stashed away in the Foreign Banks to the country. The Government has failed in its role for 65 Years. This Court feels that you have failed in your duty. So it gives the order for the appointment of a committee headed by a former judge of this Court. Three years have passed, but you have not done anything to implement the order. What have you done except for filing one report? You have done nothing.”

The Supreme Court had questioned that government on March 24, 2014. I was already saying that earlier; during that period voices were raised against the government regarding the money lost in scams. Now the voices ask how much money is coming and will keep coming to the country. You see, one after other new harsh laws are being enacted against black money deposited abroad which also have the provision of property being seized. This time too, a new law has been mentioned in the budget. The punishment has been increased from 7 years to 10 years. We discussed the laws that had been made by you with the tax Havens, Mauritius, Singapore, etc. and explained to them our circumstances. We made a deal with Switzerland so that they provide real-time information. We will know if any Indian citizen deposits his money there. We have made such agreements with several countries including the United States, by which the information will be provided to India if any of our Indian citizens or the person of Indian origin keeps his money.

In the same way we made the rule that not more than 20 thousand Rupees cash can be used for the sale of property. We have passed the Real-Estate Bill and also imposed 1% excise duty in the jewellery market so that things are streamlined. We didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.

And you only, whether on this side of the House, or that side of the House , have been writing letters to me when we said that a person is required to provide his PAN if any Jewellery is purchased worth more than Rupees two lakhs. I am surprised that those speaking against corruption and black money were the ones who demanded the cancellation of this law through the letters, so that these people could continue to seek gold with the use of cash and continue with the black market. But we were determined and took every step to eradicate corruption. I know no one can do this for political benefits; otherwise you would have done this at the first instance. This was the difficulty, but for the country’s welfare and to uplift the poor such a decision had to be taken.

We have imposed 1% additional tax on items costing more than 2 lakhs and cars costing more than ten lakhs. We also brought the Income Text declaration scheme. Thanks to this scheme, for the first time the highest ever amount of money have been declared by the people. We have ended more than 1100 out-dated laws. Some people say 150 times and some say 130 times the rules have been changed during demonetisation. You remember quiet well.

Now I want to tell you that this was such a thing in which we used to first try and find a way out immediately after understanding the problems of the public. Second, those people who had the habit of looting for years, tried to find the way, then we had to do something to stop them. A battle was constantly going on. On one hand, there were people who tried to rob the country and on the other hand there were those who were making efforts to take the country towards honesty. The battle was going on. But your favourite programme, for which you are taking all the credit; well, you are not entitled to any credit, because this very programme has been existing since the rule of the kings. Such schemes already existed at that time under the name of ‘Rahat’ for the poor. After that, many schemes under the name of Food for work came up in India. After independence, the scheme took several names, which finally became MGNREGA. I have travelled many states and in every state where there was a communist government, like in West Bengal, in Maharashtra, where Sharad Pawar had a government, had implemented a similar scheme. The Congress government In Gujarat, after independence, everywhere this scheme was implemented. It was not a new thing, but the name was new. But the country knows and you yourself will be aware that 1035 changes have been made in MGNREGA which has been in place for so many years. 1035 times, the rules were changed. And there was no confrontation in it. There wasn’t any pressure. What was the reason that one programme like MGNREGA, which was going on for a long time had to be changed 1035 times?

And so I would express myself in the words of Kaka Hathrasi’s poem and when I talk of Kaka Hanthrasi, I request you all not to view it from the prism of Uttar Pradesh elections; because in all the elections, Kaka Hatharasi was deeply discussed. Kaka Hathrasi had said –

‘See within yourself, hidden there are the flaws’ … and Kaka Hathrasi said further, ‘you will get the true report’.

Respected Chairperson, I would like to draw attention to one more thing. The government runs with the rules and constitutional responsibilities. The rules that were for you apply to us also. But the difference is of the work culture. The power of policies is linked to the determination. If there is a fault in the determination, then the strength of the policies falls to negative - beyond zero - it becomes negative and therefore there is a need to understand that work culture in our country too. Whenever we say something, they (the opposition) start off with the same thing that it was there in our time. So I feel I should play with that topic a little bit. I would love to play in your field. I refuse to believe that you did not know about these things. It’s not that you just got to know about this issue yesterday. You had the information, but as it is said in the Mahabharata:

‘जानामि धर्मम् न च मे प्रवृति: ‘जानामि अधर्मम् न च मे निवृत्ति: ।

What is religion? You know this, but that was not your tendency. You also knew what was wrong, but you did not have the strength to leave it. I will tell you - National Optical Fibre Network; if I say anything on this topic, then they will start shouting that it was started by their government. I want to start with that. Now look at the National Optical fibre Network. It was started in 2011 and till 2014, this optical fibre Network was installed in just 59 villages in three years and there was no provision of last mile connectivity. Procurement was also fully centralized; what was the reason for it we all know. Now you see how the whole work culture changes and the approach changes. All the states were taken into consideration first. Last mile connectivity i.e. the optical fibre network should be placed in the school, in the hospital, in the Panchayat, at homes. These priorities were fixed. We decentralized the Procurement process. And the result was that in such a short time so far, 76,000 villages are covered with Optical fibre Network and the objective of last mile connectivity was fulfilled.

Secondly, points were being raised regarding a low-cash society or cash-less society. What do people have? Mobile. I am surprised! I have heard in all the election meetings since 2007, your leaders used to go to villages and say that Rajiv Gandhi brought computer revolution; Rajiv Gandhi brought mobile phones; Rajiv Gandhi connected every village. These are your slogans and when today I am saying that mobiles can be used to link with banks, you are saying that people do not have mobile phones. I don’t understand that you keep saying that you have done so much and when I am just adding something good to it, you are saying that it does not exist in the first place! So what were you trying to explain? Why are you doing this? The second thing is that you also believe and I too agree that the whole country does not have everything. But suppose 40% has it, shouldn’t we make a concerted effort to connect those 40% of people to this modern system? The rest 60% can be connected later. But at least we should start from somewhere and we should not underestimate the power of digital currency. Today, on an average five cops are required to handle a single ATM. The cost of mobilization of the currency is even more than the cost of mobilization of vegetables and milk. If we understand these things and at least encourage them towards digitalization; I know everyone cannot do it but encouraging those who can move towards it, is the work of leadership. Be it any party, the people will benefit out of it. Now someone was telling me about a vegetable vendor yesterday as he was making a report. So when the vendor was asked about the benefits that he was getting out of digital transactions, he said he had many permanent customers and he knew everyone. Now suppose one customer purchased vegetables worth 52 Rupees, then that Madam used to say that there was no 2 rupees change and forced him to take a note of 50 rupees. This led to a loss of two rupees for the vendor. Now he could not even protest and according to his calculations, about 800 or 1000 rupees were lost in a year like this. After installing the BHIM App, it is exactly 52 rupees that I receive. Similarly, if its 53, I get 53, if it is 48 rupees 45 Paisa I get exactly that amount. This way eight hundred or thousand rupees were saved.

See, this is how things change and even if you oppose Modi - okay this is your job, you have to do it - but at least try to promote the good things. Suppose a village doesn’t have the infrastructure required for these things but cities have. Try to develop those areas, make contributions, the country will benefit. Therefore, I insist that if on such occasions we can help, we should help.

How work and culture change! I do not claim that this road construction was created by our government. Roads were laid even by  TodarMal  and  Sher Shah Suri. So to say that this road construction projects have been started in our regime is wrong . The difference is that in the previous regime, the length of roads under Pradhan Mantri  Grameen Sadak Yojana used to be 69 km per day. It has become 111 km after we have come to power. This is the only difference.

And we have used Space Technology to build roads. With the use of Space Technology, photos can be clicked and the work can be monitored. We used drones for monitoring the railways. We use photography and keep track of the work. How the work culture can be changed with the help of technology!

Earlier similar Housing schemes with different names were being implemented to gain political brownie points. Whatever used to happen before has happened. But still in your time, 1083,000 homes were built in a year while this government has built 2227,000 houses in a year. Under the National Urban Renewal Mission 8017 houses were built in a month while we constructed 13530 houses.

Railways- Earlier the commissioning of the Broad Gauge Railway used to be 1500 km in a year. Last year, it increased from 1500 kilometres to 3000 kilometres i.e. ,the double and we are striving to make it 3500 kilometres. We did not get these results immediately. Everything was systematically planned and monitored in order to bring about this change.

Hence, it has to be done for Purushartha or the goals of human life and therefore it has been said in our scriptures –

उद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ति कार्याणि न मनोरथैः ।
न हि सुप्तस्य सिंहस्य प्रविशन्ति मुखे मृगाः ।।

This means that a work can be accomplished only with efforts; just like a deer does not enter the mouth of a sleeping Lion; even the Lion needs to hunt the deer.

Hon’ble Speaker Madam, how can we bring about some fundamental changes? We know that the State Electricity Boards- DISCOMs of all states are in a crisis. Therefore one Prime Minister had showed his concern from the ramparts of Red Fort in India as the condition had worsened to such a great extent. Power generation capacity was increased in the last two years. Non-conventional Energy has been added to it; Transmission line has been enhanced, Solar Energy has been augmented. It was 2700 MW in 2014, and today we have increased that to 9100 MW mainly due to the DISCOM scheme. The states under the UDAY scheme will be able to save more than 1 crore 60 thousand rupees. This can be used for the development of these states and they will be saved from the burden of indebtedness in the energy sector.

Coal- Did you know that the coal was not sold closer to the place where it was mined from? Why was it so? They said that let the Railways profit out of it. We were surprised; so we rationalized this and ensured that the nearby areas only get the coal. Therefore, we reduced the transportation cost by nearly Rs.1300 Crore.

LED Bulb- Now we do not claim that we have brought the concept of LED Bulb. Scientific research was done and you had started this scheme before. But in your time the LED bulb used to cost about Rs300-380 or so. Energy can be saved by LED bulbs. We have taken up this mission at a greater scale and in the last eight or nine months, within such a short time, we have succeeded in lighting with 21 million LED bulbs and are moving forward at a faster pace. As a result, the people using LEDs are now able to lower their electricity bills saving nearly Rs 11,000 crores in totality. If the government had decided to allocate 11,000 crore as electricity subsidy in the budget, it would have been the headline in the newspapers. But we reduced the electricity bill by Rs 11,000 crore with the help of LED bulbs only. This is an example of how we can achieve our goals by changing the work culture.

Whenever one of our leaders from the Opposition used to give a speech addressing the Scheduled Castes, he smartly ignored the statistics of 2013-14. Total Allocation for Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan in 2012-13- 37113; 13-14- 41561; 16-17- 38833; 16-17 – 40920.  There is an increase of 33.7%; and in this year's budget it has been increased to 52393. Therefore we must have the courage to listen to the truth. This government is fighting against corruption. What steps are taken to fight against corruption?

We have linked 84 schemes of 17 ministries to the Direct Benefit Transfer AADHAR scheme and 32 crore people were given Rs.1 Lakh 56 thousand crore through Direct Benefit Transfer scheme. How has this benefitted? In order to understand this we should know how every street and colony used to be looted earlier. And I know very well how these steps taken by me to stop these corrupt practices and loots will put me at risk. I had said the same thing about the implications of my decisions at Goa too. And I repeat it; my decisions are affecting and will continue to affect the interests of such big tycoons that make me vulnerable. But I'm ready for that because I am taking steps for the sake of my country.

PAHAL scheme – the people used to get gas cylinders and subsidy but when it was linked to the Aadhaar scheme, its leakage was plugged. The leakage of more than Rs. 26,000 crores could be controlled that helped us to provide gas connections to 1.5 Crore poor families successfully. Whenever I speak in the House I speak with responsibility. In the last two-and-a-half years, fake ration card holders used to rob the poor man of his rights. The middlemen used the fake ration cards, stole the goods and sold them in the black market. We used the technology and  Aadhaar. Now about 4 crore i.e. 3 crore 95 lakh fake ration cards were seized. These middlemen used to take away about 14 thousand crore rupees that were meant for the poor with these fake cards. Now the poor people got their rights back.

MGNREGA- Payments for MGNREGA are made with the help of  Aadhaar, money is directly transferred and about 94% success is achieved in this regard. And as a result 7633 Crore Rupees which was earlier lost due to leakages are now saved every year.

National Social Assisting Programme (NSAP) – there were no takers for about 400 crore rupees but the money was getting spent. There was a widespread misappropriation of funds. For example, the daughter who was not even born was declared as a widow and the money was going to that non-existent daughter from the government’s coffers. We have taken steps to curb these activities. There are many such things. Another example is that of the scholarships. You can imagine about 50 thousand crore rupees meant for the poor was stolen by the middlemen. A lot of courage is needed to stop these corrupt practices and we have done that.

Respected Speaker, I want to give an example of work culture. They make tall promises to the farmers. Every year, the chief ministers of the states used to write letters to the Central government regarding inaccessibility of urea; when I was the chief minister even I used to write and we had to face a lot of trouble in getting urea. Today, I say with great satisfaction that for the last two years no Chief Minister had to write any letter for urea. There has been no queue for urea, or any lathi charge for urea. But we have not forgotten this matter. You may have a look at the old newspapers; the farmers were suffering due to inaccessibility of urea. Now tell me didn’t you know about Neem-coating of Urea? You had a discussion on the 5th of October 2007 regarding neem-coating of urea, which was principally approved by your Group of Ministers. What happened after October 5, 2007? Almost six years! You had set a cap of 35%, for neem coating; you did not make it 100%. There is no use unless it is made 100% because the urea is stolen and goes to factories and the subsidy meant for the farmers goes waste as they are not getting anything. Secondly, the urea was misused in making synthetic-milk which also threatened the lives of poor children. We made it 100% Neem-coated Urea but in 6 years you could not even make it 35%. You applied only 20%. We also applied neem coating on imported urea and the advantage of that Neem coating was surveyed.  It is the difference between your work culture and our work culture. Whenever the topic of Neem-coated Urea comes up, you start claiming credits for starting it. Well, I have decided to play in your field. That's why I have played and showed you the difference in the work culture.  We got the analysis of the Neem coating done. Agriculture Development and Rural Transformation Centre has given a report after analysing which shows how well the farmers are doing now. There is a 5 per cent increase in paddy production and 15 per cent increase in sugarcane production. You can imagine that the farmers are able to save so much.

Our Hon’ble President had suggested simultaneous elections in Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies. It should not be weighed on political scales. Everybody will be at a little loss at the time but there is a need to give a serious thought to this subject. Every year elections are held in five-six states. More than one crore government officials are sometimes involved in elections. One great disadvantage is that the teachers in our education sector have to go for the election work. Future generations are being affected due to repeated elections and there is a huge increase in expenditure. In the Lok Sabha election of 2009, about Rs.1100 crore was spent and in the 2014 Lok Sabha election an amount of more than 4000 crores was spent. You can imagine the kind of burden on this poor country. There are many new challenges coming in terms of law and order. The security forces are needed for natural calamities; they are also needed for countering terrorism and the way terrorism is spreading all over the world, our security forces have to be sent to those operations. But most of our security forces are being forced to make electoral arrangements. We should understand this crisis. No party or the government can predict the future but based on the experience we have to find the solution to this problem and we should go ahead with the discussion that the President has suggested. As a token of Thanks to him, we should try to do this.

Respected Speaker, without strengthening our country's rural economy, we cannot strengthen the country’s economy. I am amazed that one of the leaders from the opposition party was uncomfortable at the mention of the Dalit, the oppressed, the deprived and the young labourers at the President's address. Shouldn’t these afflicted, exploited and disadvantaged people of this country find any mention in the President's speech? I am surprised and deeply pained by such a gesture. We have stressed upon the agricultural irrigation schemes because I believe that basic changes have been made in MGNREGA. You had raised only 600 crores in three years. We have increased that to Rs.11000 crores in two years. This is because we have used space technology in it, we have arranged for zero taking in it. Whether the pond should be emphasized or irrigation? The main thing is that even small ponds are needed for fisheries. We have resolved to make more than 10 lakh ponds. Zero taking will improve the monitoring system. Space technology was never used despite its multifarious applications. But this government has consistently made tremendous efforts to promote it.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana - Crop Insurance was there before but the farmer was not ready for it; crop insurance was there before but the farmers' rights were not protected. I wish that though we all are people who work in public life but we should not shy away from our responsibilities towards the society and we should keep our political interests at bay. Everyone in this House can study the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and help the farmers of our area get its benefit. If a farmer could not sow the seeds due to any natural calamity or a disaster struck even 15 days after the harvest of the crop, he shall be entitled to the insurance scheme. This is not a small decision. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all of us to deliver the benefits of the scheme to our farmers in each state.

Soil Health Card- There is a possibility of political differences but kindly explain the Soil Health Card to farmers in your area. They will benefit out of it; their input costs will be reduced. The right crop on the right land will have the appropriate benefits. It is purely science; there is no need to politicize the matter. Let us go ahead and I would like to urge small entrepreneurs to come forward to create their own Private Labs to test and certify soils. This will gradually open up new employment opportunities in the villages. We should work in that direction.

Hon’ble Speaker Madam, we have discussed several topics here regarding the youth and the employment opportunities. With the MUDRA scheme, more than two crore people have been given the loans without any guarantee. Once these people become independent or self-employed they will have the power to employ several others. We are moving ahead with the thinking that we should create opportunities for employment at every step and we have adopted that policy and have emphasized Skill Development. We can see its benefits in the agriculture sector. The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana promises several employment opportunities for the people. We have launched a major campaign to connect East India with a gas pipeline with the Urja Ganga scheme. A gas pipeline of hundreds of kilometres will be laid. Won’t there be any employment opportunity for the youngsters in the country in that case?

Hence in order to provide jobs, we have started many initiatives in the field of textiles, shoe making and several other areas. It is very important to promote small industries of the country. Several important decisions have been made in this budget and with the increased strength of small industries, employment opportunities in our country will increase.

If we use the criterion of 'Zero Defect Zero Effect' for our production, then we can capture the world's market too. The export strength of our small industries can be improved; big industries need small equipment that they get from small factories and we can do miracle in the field of engineering. Thus, the government has come up with the plans in the budget that will benefit 96% of the industrialists and 4% of the big industrialists are left out but about 96% are those whose transactions are less than Rs 50 crore.  All of them are benefiting. Thus, there is a huge potential for an increase in employment.

Surgical Strike- I am surprised at the way some statements were made by the politicians within 24 hours of the Surgical Strike; but when they realized that the country's mood was different, they had to change their language and this was a very big decision and no one questioned me on this; questions were raised regarding demonetization as to why was it kept a secret? Why was the Cabinet not informed! But nobody questioned me on the Surgical Strike. The army of our country cannot be praised enough for its success in the massive Surgical Strike. The surgical strike is bothering you, I know. Surgical Strike is troubling you and therefore you are unable to speak out publicly and you are feeling the pain inside. But you should understand that the army is powerful enough and capable of protecting the country from any kind of adversary.

Respected chairperson, I believe that we should have a healthy dialogue in this House. New research and new ideas should be shared in this House, because ultimately our purpose is to take our country forward. We have to do this together because ultimately our aim is to liberate our country from evils and to take this country to new heights. And we have got this rare opportunity. If we take advantage of this opportunity and stand in front of the world as a single force, I believe that we can definitely fulfil the dreams of our ancestors.

Hon’ble Speaker Madam, you have given me the time to speak. I am thankful to you for listening to me, and once again I thank you. Hearty congratulations to the President. Thank you very much!

 

***

AKT/AK/IG/MG/AK