Address by the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee to members of both houses of Parliament
Address by the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee to members of both houses of Parliament
Honourable Members,
1.
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.
2.
The ideal of saha na vavatu, saha nau
bhunaktu - May we be protected together and blessed together with
bliss - has inspired our civilisation from time immemorial. 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.
3.
This year marks the Centenary year of Champaran
Satyagraha, which gave a new direction to our freedom struggle and
channelised janashakti in the fight against colonial power.
Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of Satyagraha instilled in every Indian
an indomitable self-belief, and spirit of sacrifice for the larger good. This janashakti
is today our greatest strength.
4.
The resilience and forbearance
demonstrated by our countrymen, particularly the poor, recently in the fight against
black money and corruption, is remarkable. The same spirit has driven the LPG
''Give It Up Campaign." Over 1.2 crore consumers have voluntarily given up
their LPG subsidy, which has helped the underprivileged in accessing LPG
connections. This janashakti has transformed Swachh
Bharat Mission into a jan-andolan. 1.4 lakh
villages, over 450 cities, 77 districts and 3 states have declared themselves Open
Defecation Free. My government salutes the strength of janashakti
and pledges to constructively utilise it in Rashtra Nirman.
Honourable Members,
5.
At the core of all my Government's
policies is the welfare of the garib, dalit, peedit, shoshit,
vanchit, kisan, shramik and yuva. My government is
guided by the Antyodaya philosophy of Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyaya. His centenary year is being observed as Garib
Kalyan Varsh.
6.
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 have been
issued to enable cashless payments. Moving swiftly from “Jan Dhan to Jan
Suraksha” close to 13 crore poor have been covered under various social
security schemes.
7.
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.
8.
Over Rs 2 Lakh Crore has been provided
through 5.6 crore loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
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.
9.
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. The scheme aims to reach out to nearly 5
crore women soon.
Honourable Members,
10.
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.
11.
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.
12.
Poor sanitation further weakens the
economic wherewithal of a poor household. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims
to ensure health and sanitation, particularly for the poor. Under this mission,
more than 3 crore toilets have been constructed.
13.
The Pradhan Mantri 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.
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.
14.
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.
Under UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All) 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.
15.
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. Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadi Pariyojana
has been launched to ensure that the poor have access to quality medicines at
affordable prices. Special facilities created to control the endemic Japanese
encephalitis have yielded encouraging results in significantly reducing
mortality due to this disease.
Honourable Members,
16.
In Kisan's welfare lies
the nation's prosperity. 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.
17.
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 (National
Agriculture Market).
18.
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.
19.
With the objective of digitisation of
all the live Kisan Credit Cards, another three crore cards will
be converted into RUPAY debit cards soon. The corpus of NABARD
fund has been doubled to Rs. Forty One Thousand crore to ensure easy credit access
to farmers.
20.
With focus on Per Drop More Crop
and “Har Khet ko Pani”, coverage under Pradhan Mantri
Krishi Sinchayee Yojana has been expanded. More than 12.7 lakh hectares
have been brought under micro irrigation in the last two years.
21.
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,
22.
My government is making Nari
Shakti an integral part of our development journey. Our women deserve
equal opportunity. The Rio Olympics, where we took great pride in the
performance of P.V. Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Deepa Karmakar and others,
illustrates the strength of our women. Women are being inducted in combat
streams of our Armed Forces. The nation is proud of its first three women
fighter pilots. This reminds us of what we can achieve, as a nation, if women
are fully empowered, and if their skills and talent are optimally utilised.
23.
The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
scheme that addresses the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio, is yielding
encouraging results. Under the Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, launched
with an objective of ensuring a secure future to our girl child, over
one crore accounts have been opened and an amount of over Rs. eleven thousand
crore has been deposited. The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan
will provide comprehensive ante-natal care by a qualified medical practitioner
to all pregnant women. The revision of Maternity Benefit Act and
enhancement of maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks will support pregnant
women at the workplace.
Honourable Members,
24.
65 percent of our population today is
below the age of 35. Our youth is our greatest strength and yuva urja
needs to be effectively channelised. With the motto of “Har Haath ko
Hunar”, my government has taken several steps for skilling the youth
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.
25.
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 pursue higher education. With the objective of
providing training of international standards to youth, a nation-wide network
of 50 India International Skill Centres is being established. The
Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana has been launched for promoting
entrepreneurship education and training amongst 7 lakh students.
26.
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,
27.
Shram-eva jayate
(श्रमेव
जयते)
is one of the foremost guiding
principles of my government and 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. 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.
28.
Workers employed in the informal sector
will benefit the most from my 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.
29.
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.
Honourable Members,
30.
Social and economic equality for the
deprived and disempowered sections is the first promise of our constitution. My
government is committed to fulfil this promise.
31.
Through the Stand-up India
initiative, my government plans to empower over two and a half lakh Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women entrepreneurs. For promoting
entrepreneurship, the National Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Hub has been
launched, with an initial allocation of Rs. 490 crore.
32.
Under the Forest Rights Act, about 16.5 lakh
Individual Forest Rights titles have been granted over an area of 55.4 lakh
acres of forest land. Further, Community Forest Rights titles have been
distributed over an area of about 47 lakh acres of forest land.
33.
The location of our mineral wealth largely
coincides with tribal habitations in our country. The Pradhan Mantri
Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana will serve the dual purpose of ensuring
sustainable mining activity as well as local area development for the
betterment of the tribals and the poor inhabitants in the mining areas.
District Mineral Foundation is a novel initiative in this regard.
34.
My government has increased the allocation
under the Tribal sub-plan. Fourteen different sectors have been identified
under the Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana for the empowerment of tribals.
100 out of the 300 clusters envisaged under the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
Rurban Mission, will be developed in tribal areas.
Honourable Members,
35.
The success of the Indian cricket team
at the World cup for the Blind, 2014 and the Indian Paralympics contingent at
Rio 2016 demonstrates that our Divyang jan can scale great
heights, if afforded an opportunity. My Government is committed to providing
the Divyang jan equal opportunities for development. Besides
increasing the percentage of reservation for Divyang jan from 3
to 4 percent in government jobs, my government has accelerated filling up of
backlog vacancies. Over 6 lakh Divyang jan have so far
benefitted from 4700 special assistance camps organised across the country
since May 2014.
36.
The Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan
is improving accessibility for the Divyang jan at public places.
For the first time, Speech and Language Disability, and Specific Learning
Disability have been included in The Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Act, 2016. A common sign language is being developed for the entire
country. The Niramaya Swasthya Bima Yojana provides Divyang
jan affected by autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and those
with multiple disabilities, a health insurance cover of up to One lakh rupees.
Honourable
Members,
37.
Like the strings of sitar,
which produce different notes but come together to create a beautiful melody,
people professing different faiths and religions constitute the spirit of India
and contribute to the strength of the nation. The courage and sacrifice of Baba
Banda Singh Bahadur, whose 300th martyrdom anniversary we
observe this year; and the spirit of selfless service of Mother Teresa,
who was cannonised recently, inspire us in equal measure. My government has
taken several measures to ensure that the aspirations of people from all
communities are fulfilled, and a more focussed approach has been taken towards
inclusive development of the notified minority communities, namely Muslims,
Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains. While
scholarship and fellowship schemes have encouraged their educational
empowerment; skill development schemes like Seekho aur kamao, Usttad
and Nai Manzil have enabled their economic empowerment.
38.
Just as all the drops of rainwater and
streams converge in an ocean, all the policies of my government converge for
the welfare of the poor, deprived and the underprivileged. From giving house to
the shelter less to electrifying un-electrified villages, from giving free LPG
connections to supplying LED bulbs to the poor, from Jan Dhan to Jan
Suraksha, from making available affordable health care to providing
quality education to the poor --- central to all the policies of my government
is the welfare of the poor.
Honourable
Members,
39.
Balanced and equitable development of
all regions is vital to India's progress. Under its proactive "Act
East" policy, my government is focussing on reducing the isolation
of the Eastern region and North-east by improving connectivity through road,
rail, air, telecom, power and waterways.
40.
My Government has started the Pradhan
Mantri Urja Ganga with the execution of Two Thousand Five Hundred kilometres
long Jagdishpur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline
Project. With an investment of around Rs. Twelve thousand Five hundred crore,
this project will cater to energy requirements of five states, covering
40 districts and 2,600 villages. This project will also lead to the revival of
three large fertilizer plants, industrialization of more than 20 cities and
city gas network development in 7 cities.
41.
My Government sees the North Eastern states
as the Ashtalakshmi that can take India to new heights. The North
East is the gateway to South East Asia. We are opening up road and rail routes
to our neighbouring countries to boost the economic development of the region.
42.
To ensure unhindered support and
development of North Eastern states, my government is continuing with the special
dispensation in the assistance pattern to the North-eastern states, and is providing
assistance in the ratio of 90:10 for core central schemes and 80:20 for non-core
schemes to these states.
43.
By the end of the year, all Meter-Gauge
tracks in the north-eastern states will be converted to Broad-Gauge. The
railways have undertaken a major expansion in the region at a cost of around
Rs. Ten thousand crore. Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have been put on the
rail map, Agartala in Tripura has been connected with broad gauge line.
44.
The Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer
Limited and Numaligarh Refinery Limited’s wax unit are big projects that will
create huge employment opportunities in the North East region. The Government
has approved North East BPO promotion scheme in the Digital India programme for
creation of employment opportunities.
45.
The beauty and diversity of the North
East makes it a natural hub for tourism. The Ministry of Tourism has identified
a thematic circuit for the North East region.
46.
My government has provided special
financial assistance to mitigate the damages caused by unprecedented floods in
the hilly and other areas of the country.
Honourable
Members,
47.
From highways to i-ways; from railways
to waterways; from seaports to airports; from water pipelines to gas pipelines,
from earth sciences to satellites, from rural infrastructure to smart cities, creation
of vital next-generation infrastructure has received special attention of my
government.
48.
For modernization of Railways, the
highest-ever capital outlay of Rs. 1.21 lakh crore has been provided. My
government aims to connect all rural habitations with all weather roads. 73,000
kilometres of road has been built so far in rural areas. More than five thousand
kilometres of roads in 44 Left Wing Extremism affected districts are being
upgraded. The National Civil Aviation Policy, will give a major boost to air
connectivity in the smaller cities and towns. Under the BharatNet Project,
Optical Fibre Cables now cover over 75,700 Gram Panchayats, up from only 59 in
May 2014.
49.
India has launched 8 operational
missions covering meteorological, navigation, and earth observation and
communication satellites. ISRO completed the seven-satellite constellation of
Indian Regional Navigational Satellite Systems, NaviC (नाविक).
ISRO added another feather to its cap this year by successfully launching 20
satellites in a highest-ever single launch.
50.
My government is committed to optimally
harness our marine wealth and give a new impetus to ocean-led development. Under
the Sagarmala programme on port-led development, a total of 199
projects with an outlay of over Rs. Three lakh crore have been identified for
implementation in the next three years. Of these, projects of more than Rs. One
lakh crore are already under implementation. The seas surrounding the Indian
Peninsula contain One thousand Three hundred and Eighty Two of our islands, out
of which, to begin with, 26 have been earmarked for integrated development. The
Blue Economy, with focus on sustainable development of fisheries will continue
to receive our special attention.
51.
As a reaffirmation of our commitment to
clean energy, my government has taken giant strides in increasing our renewable
energy capacity to 47 Giga Watts so far, against our target of 175 Giga Watts.
52.
Placing fresh impetus on rural
infrastructure, untied financial resources of over Rs. Two lakh crore are being
transferred to Gram Panchayats during 2015-20. The allocation to Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in 2016-17 has been
over Rs. Forty Seven thousand crore which is the highest ever since the
inception of the programme and the focus is now on creation of durable assets
and rural infrastructure.
53.
Giving a major boost to creation of
urban infrastructure, annual action plan for 500 cities with an outlay of Rs.
Fifty thousand crore has been approved. Metro Rail Projects have been
sanctioned for four cities including Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Pune, and an
extension of Chennai Metro has also been approved.
Honourable Members,
54.
My Government has taken bold decisions
in the interest of the poor.
55.
To combat the evils of black-money,
corruption, counterfeit currency and terror financing, my government took the
decision on 8th November, 2016 to demonetize old five hundred and
one thousand rupee currency notes. My Government’s very first cabinet decision
was to set up an SIT on black-money. The passing of Black Money (Undisclosed
Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, Benami
Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, amendments to treaties
with Singapore, Cyprus and Mauritius to prevent misuse of provisions in such treaties
for tax evasion and movement of black-money in India and the Taxation Amendment
Act providing for Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana,
have together resulted in a comprehensive policy backed initiative against black-money.
56.
The four-decade old demand of
one-rank-one-pension (OROP) of our Armed Forces veterans has been fulfilled.
The total financial implications would be around Rs. Eleven thousand crore.
More than Rs. Six thousand Two hundred crore have been released in two tranches
benefiting over 19.6 lakh veterans.
57.
My government has taken decisive steps
to give a fitting reply to the repeated incursions on our territorial
sovereignty. On 29th September 2016 our defence forces successfully
conducted surgical strikes at several launch pads along the Line of Control to
prevent infiltration by terrorists. We are proud of the exemplary courage and
valour displayed by our defence personnel and owe a debt of the gratitude to
them.
Honourable Members,
58.
Transforming the culture of governance,
my Government has simplified procedures, repealed obsolete laws and eliminated scope
for corruption.
59.
The Direct Benefit Transfer programme of
subsidies through the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM)
Trinity has prevented leakages and helped save Rs Thirty Six thousand
crore. PAHAL is the world’s largest cash benefit transfer scheme that has saved
over Rs. Twenty One thousand crore in two years. Digidhan Abhiyaan
and Two lakh Common Service Centres are providing employment to over 5 lakh youth,
and spreading digital literacy.
60.
The launch of mobile app - BHIM
- Bharat Interface for Money - is a tribute to the vision of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar
who sought economic empowerment of the poorest. Within a few days, it has
become one of the most popular mobile app-based payment mechanisms in the
country. The biometric AADHAAR Payment system to be launched soon will usher a
technological revolution in India.
61.
Coal block and spectrum auctions
illustrate the highest standards of transparency set by my government in
allocation of natural resources. To carry this forward, government procurements
have been brought under a single platform - Government eMarket Place
(GeM).
62.
The process of recruitment to government
jobs has been made simpler and transparent by dispensing with interviews for
recruitments to over Thirty Four lakh non-gazetted posts. The process of
appointments to senior positions in government has also been streamlined and is
guided solely by objectivity, merit and integrity.
63.
Over Eleven hundred obsolete laws have
been repealed and 400 more are in the process of being repealed. Legislations
relating to Women, Divyang jan, Labour, Apprentices, Factories,
Benami Transactions, Aadhaar and Real Estate, to mention
a few - mirrors my Government's guiding philosophy of Transparency,
and Social Justice.
Honourable Members,
64.
Frequent elections put on hold
development programmes, disrupt normal public life, and impact essential
services and burden human resource with prolonged periods of election duty. My government
welcomes a constructive debate on simultaneous conduct of elections to Lok
Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies. Funding of elections to eradicate
the misuse of money power also needs to be debated. My Government would
welcome any decision taken by the Election Commission in this regard after
consultations with political parties.
Honourable Members,
65.
Celebrating the cultural diversity along
with the richness of language and heritage of every state, my government has
started the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat programme. The uniqueness
of this programme is to pair and entwine two different states with diverse
cultures for over a year so that each state can assimilate the cultural spirit
of the other.
66.
Taking forward the concept of
cooperative federalism through One nation-One tax and One nation-One
market, both Houses of Parliament passed the Goods and Services
Tax Act. 17 states governed by political parties across the political
spectrum ratified this in a record 23 days. My Government is thankful to the
GST Council for working to resolve outstanding issues.
Honourable Members,
67.
India has been widely acclaimed as a
bright spot in the global economy, at a time when global growth has been slow.
The rate of inflation, the balance of payments, current account deficit and the
fiscal deficit have been consistently reduced since 2014. Foreign Direct
Investment and foreign exchange reserves have reached record levels. The
country's macroeconomic fundamentals are very strong, creating a platform for
sustained high growth.
68.
FDI inflows in 2015-16 were US $ 55.6
billion, the highest-ever for any financial year.My Government further liberalized
FDI policy provisions in various sectors in June 2016.
69.
My Government is closely working with
the State Governments to identify constraints in doing business. The rankings
of the States/UTs show that the national implementation average of reforms
stands at around 49 percent, much higher than last year’s 32 percent. India is
ranked third in the list of top prospective host economies for 2016-18 in the
World Investment Report 2016 released by UNCTAD
(अंकटाड).
Honourable Members,
70.
India has been facing the grave
challenge of terrorism for the last four decades. Terrorism poses a serious
danger to the global community. India will actively collaborate with other
nations in decisively defeating these forces. My government is committed to
combating terrorism, and to ensure that the perpetrators of such acts are
brought to justice.
71.
The State of Jammu and Kashmir has been
affected by terrorism sponsored and supported from across the border. The
attempts of infiltration, incidents of terrorist violence and loss of precious
lives of civilians and security personnel remain a cause of grave concern.
72.
There has been considerable success in
containing Left Wing Extremism over the last three years, with the surrender of
over 2600 extremists. The security situation in the North Eastern states has
also shown significant improvement.
Honourable Members,
73.
My Government, committed to the
philosophy of partnerships for peace and progress, continues its active
diplomacy aimed at facilitating national development, enhancing our security,
and ensuring greater Indian influence in global fora.
74.
The intensity of our international
engagements has helped us shape a diverse and purposeful agenda with our global
partners. There has been a consolidation of relations with friendly countries
and major powers. The common desire of the South Asian region for greater
prosperity and development led most of its nations to make common cause in
their opposition to terrorism. Membership of the Missile Technology Control
Regime (MTCR) and signing of the Memorandum of Obligations of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation were further reflections of India’s growing and
multi-dimensional role in global affairs.
75.
India hosted the eighth BRICS Summit at
Goa with its BIMSTEC outreach, and the sixth Heart of Asia Conference at
Amritsar, marking important contributions to our regional and pluri-lateral
outreach. India hosted a three day Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster
Risk Reduction in Delhi, in which more than 50 Asian and Pacific countries
participated.
76.
There are over Thirty million Overseas
Indians, settled in almost every corner of the world. They continue to make
invaluable contributions to Indian society and economy. My government will
maximize the strengths of Indian diaspora in nation building and for
deepening our global outreach.
77.
Realising the importance of developing
tourism, my Government has approved the new e-VISA policy and
expanded the scope of e-tourist visa to include purposes such as short-term
medical treatment and business trips. 161 countries are now covered under
e-VISA. With over 88 lakh foreign tourist arrivals in 2016, tourism sector has
shown a growth rate of over 10 percent.
78.
India ratified the Paris agreement on 2nd
October 2016, thereby sending a strong message of our commitment to combating
climate change with focus on climate justice and sustainable lifestyle. The
United Nations Environment Programme has recognized India as one of the
countries on track in achieving its voluntary goals. 25 nations have signed the
Framework Agreement of International Solar Alliance, the first treaty based
organisation initiated by India.
Honourable Members,
79.
Indians today have a deep sense of pride
in the awakening of India caused by the momentous steps my government has
undertaken. Our fellow citizens have exhibited great solidarity with our
endeavours in transforming India. My government reiterates its commitment to
fulfil the aspirations of our citizens. The Vision of Mahatma Gandhi and
other founding fathers lays down a great path for a resurgent India.
This path is of debate, discussion, accommodation and understanding. It is the
rich tradition of Samvaad, Samanvay and Samvedna
that will continue to guide the spirit of our nation building.
Honourable Members,
80.
We gather here today to redeem the trust
reposed by our countrymen, particularly the poor, in the sacred Institution of
Parliament. Every action of ours, in this temple of democracy must be an
offering at the altar of the innumerable sacrifices that have built this
nation. Let us work towards a common future, seeded in the promise of Sabka
Saath Sabka Vikas, that will bring to all the equality and dignity
enshrined in our constitution.
Jai Hind!
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