President Droupadi Murmu takes salute of her bodyguards as Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi look on, at Parliament during the joint sitting of both Houses in New Delhi on Thursday PHOTO: PTI
President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said the forthcoming Budget of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, the first of its third term in office, would see “historic steps” along with “major economic and social decisions”.
Addressing a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Murmu said the government would further accelerate the pace of reforms. She said the Budget would be an “effective document of the government’s far-reaching policies and futuristic vision”.
The President said the government was hoping to foster healthy competition among states to attract investors from all over the world in the “true spirit” of competitive cooperative federalism. “We will continue to move ahead with the belief that the development of the country lies in the development of the states,” she said.
The word “reform” featured on 16 occasions in the President’s 51-minute speech. Five years ago, the word had found four mentions in then President Ram Nath Kovind’s speech on June 19, 2019, his first address to Parliament after that year’s general elections. Pranab Mukherjee’s speech on June 9, 2014, the first after the Narendra Modi-led government was elected, had also found four references to the word “reform”.
According to Article 87 of the Constitution, the President addresses a joint sitting of the two Houses at the commencement of the first session after each general election and the first day of the first session of each year. The President’s address, drafted by the government, is the statement of policy of the government.
In her speech, the President didn’t shy away from broaching contentious issues. She spoke of the government’s commitment to a fair probe into the instances of paper leaks in some examinations and its intent to undertake “major reforms in examination-related bodies, their functioning, and all aspects of the examination process”. She said Parliament had enacted a strict law against the use of unfair means in examinations.
The President also pointed out that the government had started granting citizenship to refugees under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which ensured a dignified life to many families who had suffered due to partition. She urged citizens to be wary of disruptive forces using technology to conspire to weaken democracy and create fissures in India’s society, stressing the need to find new ways and means to address the challenge. She said India had expressed these concerns at international forums and advocated for a global framework to meet the challenge.
However, the theme of President Murmu’s speech was how the government’s mantra of “reform, perform and transform” in the past 10 years had made India the fastest-growing economy in the world. She said India had grown at an average rate of 8 per cent annually from 2021 to 2024, a feat made possible — amid unusual circumstances like the Covid-19 pandemic — “due to reforms” undertaken in the past decade. The President said India now accounted for 15 per cent of the global growth and was striving to become the third-largest economy in the world.
Murmu noted that the government had been elected for a third successive time, a first in six decades, and the election result was evidence of the people’s trust in “a strong and decisive government”, in “good governance, stability and continuity”, and in its guarantees and delivery. “I am confident that this Lok Sabha will script a new chapter on decisions for public welfare,” she said.
The President said the basic spirit of democracy had been greatly undermined because of an “adversarial mindset and narrow selfishness”, which affects the parliamentary system, as also the developmental journey of the country and reforms. She said during the phase of unstable governments in the country, which lasted for several decades, many governments, even if willing, were unable to bring reforms or take crucial decisions. “The people of India have now changed this situation by their decisive mandate,” she said.
The President said many reforms had taken place in the past decade which were opposed but had stood the test of time. She pointed to examples of the government having brought about banking reforms, including enacting the IBC. She said these reforms made India’s banking sector one of the strongest in the world. The government strengthened the public-sector banks and reduced their non-performing assets. The goods and services tax (GST) collections crossed the ~2 trillion mark. She said the government gave equal importance to manufacturing, services, and agriculture and referred to the production-lined incentive schemes as having contributed to increasing investments and employment opportunities on a large scale.
The President spoke of India’s role as a Vishwa Bandhu in the new global order, and its emergence as a strong voice of the Global South. She also mentioned the holding of the G20 presidency, where the African Union was made a permanent member of the grouping, and India’s vision that gave shape to the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor.
Listing some of the proposed government decisions, the President said the scope of PM SVANidhi would be expanded, and street vendors in rural and semi-urban areas would also be brought within its ambit. All elderly, those above 70 years of age, she said, would also be covered and benefit from free treatment under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana.
The President detailed the steps taken for the welfare of the four pillars of Viksit Bharat — the poor, youth, women and farmers. She said “topmost priority is being accorded to these four pillars”. The government placed a great emphasis on every aspect of the rural economy, Murmu said. “A major problem of small farmers is related to storage. Therefore, my government has commenced work on a scheme to create the world’s largest storage capacity in the cooperative sector.”
On the government’s steps for improving the economy, she said the government was making continuous efforts to reduce the cost of logistics. She said the future was going to be Harit Yug or Green Era, and the government was increasing investments in green industries, leading to an increase in green jobs.
The President spoke of the government’s efforts to develop the Northeast, where a semiconductor plant was being established in Assam for ~27,000 crore. The work of withdrawing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, or Afspa, is underway in a phased manner by accelerating development in those areas, she said.
On the recently concluded elections and the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the President said any attempt to undermine the credibility of India’s democracy should be denounced. “We all remember those times when ballot papers were snatched and looted. To ensure the sanctity of the electoral process, it was decided that EVMs would be used. The EVM has passed every test, from the Supreme Court to the people’s court, in the last few decades,” she said.
On the country’s Constitution, which became a key symbol during the Lok Sabha polls, the President spoke of its salience in India’s 75 years as a Republic, the government’s efforts to make it a part of “public consciousness”, and criticised the Emergency as the “biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack” on the Constitution.
The Prime Minister is slated to reply to the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address either on July 2 or 3, the last day of the special session. The Budget session is likely to begin on July 22.
PRESIDENT SPEAK
Economy: India now accounts for 15% of global growth and is striving to become the third-largest economy in the world
Banking: Reforms have made India’s banking sector one of the strongest in the world
World: India today is the first responder in any crisis and has become a strong voice of the Global South in view of its human-centric approach
NEET: Govt is fully committed to a fair investigation in the recent incidents of paper leaks and ensure that the guilty are punished
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