New Delhi: Underscoring the government’s flagship social sector schemes in his address to a joint session of Parliament, President Ram Nath Kovind said the Union government believes in “empowering and not appeasing the minorities”.
Inaugurating the Budget Session, Kovind focused on reforms undertaken by the government in the last four years for women and farmers, and in the field of finance.
The President’s speech may hold a clue to what Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s Union Budget 2018, to be presented on February 1, may contain. This will be the last full-fledged budget to be presented by the Modi government ahead of Lok Sabha elections and is expected to be a populist one, with focus on sections like women and farmers.
“We need to uplift our women. The country has taken up schemes to promote the usage of toilets. My government has formulated policies to help construct common as well as private toilets in the rural areas. This not only helps the country in being cleaner but provides a sense of social justice to a woman,” said Kovind.
It has been almost three years since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and the government’s fight for better sanitation and against open defecation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has time and again talked about building toilets and educating people about cleanliness, waste management and hygiene.
On Monday, the government took to Twitter and published a five-year report on the overall sanitation coverage in India.
As per the report published on April 18, 2017, India’s sanitation coverage in 2012 was 38 percent which increased to 60.53 percent under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The President then recalled the days when women in India had to go through the drudgery of cooking by burning wood and coal.
“I am sure all of us remember seeing women burning wood to cook food. They and their children had to go through the pain of breathing polluted air. My government has started the scheme of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) which has till date provided 3,30,00,000 free liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to below poverty line (BPL) women,” said Kovind.
Launched on May 1 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, the PMUY scheme aims to provide clean cooking gas via free LPG connections to 50 million BPL women, with 15 million connections to be provided within the current financial year.
The government’s push for cleaner sources of energy comes in the backdrop of India ratifying the Paris Climate deal on October 2 which came into effect from November 4 wherein the country has pledged to significantly reduce its carbon emission levels.
The LPG subsidy bill of the government for the current year is Rs 27,110.62 crore. A subsidised 14.2kg domestic cooking cylinder at present costs Rs.430.64 in New Delhi whereas the actual cost is Rs 895.
The much-debated Triple Talaq Bill recently introduced in Parliament also found mention in the President’s speech. “My government has made the age-old practice of talaq regularized thus providing social freedom to women,” said Kovind.
The President also talked about the government working towards providing ample maternity leave to pregnant women.
Highlighting financial restructuring in favour of women, Kovind said, “In 2012, there were only 28% women-held saving accounts which has increased to 40% now.”
While the government recently abolished Haj subsidy, the President highlighted the government’s decision to allow women to go for Haj without mehram.
He then shifted focus to farmers and the agricultural sector. “We need to work for our farmers who are the primary source of food for us.”
Highlighting the government’s efforts in the sector, Kovind said, “My government has focused on minimum support prices (MSP) that ensures that farmers get fair prices for their produce.”
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh had admitted in Parliament during the Winter Session that farmers were not getting the right MSP for their crops and that efforts were being made to fix the price.
The President also talked about the Mudra scheme and Fasal Beema Yojana.
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