President Ram Nath said that the government had fought corruption and hoarding of black money and had set up an SIT to track such crimes.
In his address to the joint session of Parliament, the last before the Lok Sabha elections, President Ram Nath Kovind spoke at length about the steps government had taken to ‘strike at the root of corruption’.
“Not only did the government fight corruption and hoarding of black money, it also brought a SIT to track such crimes,” Kovind said on Day One of the Budget session.
The government brought strict laws for sectors flush with black money and signed agreements with ‘tax haven’ countries to curb money laundering, he added.
Talking on the eve of the presentation of the interim budget, Kovind listed the benefits of the notes ban, by which the government had banned Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes, Kovind said it struck at the root of black money scourge.
“Forces of instability were vanquished. Benami property owners, economic offenders were targeted”, he said.
Speaking on the first day of the last Parliament session of the present government, Kovind highlighted the steps taken for women, farmers and the middle class.
“Our Muslim daughters were living under constant fear, the triple talaq bill gives them equality, lets them live without fear” he said. Listing various gender equality measures started by the government, Kovind said women had benefited from the government’s loan schemes and steps to boost enterprises run from them. He said the government had generated jobs for women and made it easier for young mothers to keep their jobs by increasing the maternity leave.
Kovind said the country was going through a phase of uncertainty before 2014 election and his government took up the initiative to form a ‘New India.’ Listing various health, insurance, educational and housing schemes, the President said the middle class had benefited due to these programmes
“Healthcare is my government’s topmost priority. I am happy to inform you that the benefits of government’s schemes are reaching poorest of the poor. We know that expenses on health makes a poor even poorer. My government understood this and started Ayushman Bharat Yojana. In last 4 months more than 10 Lakh poor people availed health benefits in hospitals under this scheme
On housing schemes, Kovind said government has taken unprecedented strides in ‘housing for all by making 1.30 crore houses in past five years while the previous government made just 25 lakhs in this period. “Urban housing has also been streamlined with RERA… 35, 000 projects have been registered with this authority,” he said.
Crackdown on the use of black money in real estate has brought down property prices, he added
Listing the steps taken for the burgeoning middle class, Kovind said steps were taken to reduce the Income tax burden, inflation was reined in and jobs were generated.
Amid repeated attacks by the Opposition Congress over government’s alleged overlooking of farmers’ issues, the President listed the achievements on the agriculture front. ‘Various steps were taken for farmers, MSP of 22 crops was increased, better seeds were provided, soil information was made available and irrigation systems were improved,” he said.
On Goods and Services tax (GST) Kovind said; “It is a long-term policy and is a boon for the business sector. The taxpayers in the country trust this government.”
Talking about all round development in the country, Kovind also listed various infrastructure projects initiated by the government– in railways, highways and bridges.
