RAJYA SABHA ______SUPPLEMENT TO SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE ______(Proceedings other than Questions and Answers) ______Monday, February 10, 2020 / Magha 21, 1941 (Saka) ______

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER Reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Promotions THE MINISTER OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT (SHRI THAAWAR CHAND GEHLOT): Hon'ble Supreme Court has passed a judgment in Civil Appeal No. 1226 of 2020 Mukesh Kumar & Ors. regarding reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in promotions. Since this is an important subject, the Government is considering it at the highest level. This is to clarify here that neither the Government of was made a party ever in this matter nor any affidavit was sought from the Government of India. The said matter/SLP has arisen out of a decision taken by the Government of Uttarakhand dated 5.9.2012, in which the Government of Uttarakhand had decided not to provide reservations in the promotions for SCs and STs. It is appropriate to mention here that there was Congress Party Government in Uttarakhand in 2012. Our Government is dedicated and committed for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. After due

______

 This Synopsis is not an authoritative record of the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha. 184 discussion and consideration, the Government of India will take appropriate steps in this subject. The hon’ble Minister, replying to the queries made by the members, said: I have only one reply to queries made by the Hon'ble Members, as I have already said that our Government is dedicated and committed for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. After due discussion and consideration at the highest level, our Government will take appropriate decision in this matter. ______THE UNION BUDGET, 2020-21 General Discussion - Contd. SHRI VAIKO: I am extremely happy about the announcement of setting up of an archaeology museum at Adhichanallur on the banks of the river Thamiraparani in Tamil Nadu. I request such a museum should be established by the Central Government in Keezhadi. Tamil civilization is the most ancient civilization in the world. To face the present financial scenario is a hard and an onerous task. There are deficiencies and challenges in the Budget which are to be solved. There is no reference of economic slowdown, plight of farmers, rural distress, unemployment among youth in the budget. Government's expenditure are under-estimated whereas revenues and receipts are over estimated. This year government's borrowing is 4.6% and it will be 4.3% in next year. There is only 2% increase in Defence Budget. Subsidies in food and fertilizers have been frozen. Tamil Nadu is totally ignored in allotment of funds for railway projects. Income of farmers has declined so there is lack of demand. Government is solely responsible for the plight of the economy. When liberalisation was started in 1991, import subsidy was given up. This policy was followed up to 2015. This policy has now been changed. Positive outcome of the '' be tabled in the House. The fund under MGREGS has been reduced. Money taken from the farmers has been given to corporates. It is assured to double the income of farmers by 2022 which means agricultural sector has to grow at the pace of 15% per annum. Similarly, to achieve the target of 5 trillion dollar economy by 2024, India has to grow at the pace of 185 double digit every year. It seems to be impossible. Disinvestment of Air India, Bharat Petroleum, LIC has been announced. LIC is a profit making undertaking hence it should not be disinvested. Kasthurirangan report is nothing but the agenda of Hindutva so it should not be implemented. The Government should first declare its PSU policy and tell which are the entities to be sold. In the 13 pre-budget discussions, the Finance minister was present only in one discussion. It conveys wrong signal. No proof of Saraswati river was found yet. According to some historians the culture in Mohenjodaro and Harappa civilisation is of Dravidian civilisation but the Government is trying to distort the history. SHRI PRAFUL PATEL: The impact of the Budget could have been much more meaningful and helpful to State of economy. There is global change in the global economy and its impact is seen on Indian economy. But Indian economy has grown because of its size and inherent strength of the economy. Because of its size, we consume most of what we produce. We have to look within and find the reasons as to why we failed. There is huge mismatch between the statistics presented in Parliament and the actual number achieved. Government has not been able to address the need of expenditure on infrastructure and social sector programmes. Some major boosters to the economy were required, but nothing has been done. The industrial sector across the country is under tremendous pressure but industry is not being given the helping hand which it requires. The investment in the auto sector has stopped. No major company is trying to put in new investment so that they can prepare for the future. The entire auto sector is reeling under the impact of lesser money in the hands of individuals, who have to buy the vehicles. The automobile sector accounts for a large part of manufacturing economy, which is facing slowdown. The industry today is facing a severe liquidity crunch on account of financing and that also needs to be addressed. No industry in the country has a fresh capital investment of Rs.5,000 crore. Not a single new industry is coming up in the country. There is no private sector participation in road construction. Not even a single company is coming into major infrastructure projects. Agricultural sector is only about 15 per cent of the GDP but 65 per cent of people still depend on agriculture. Except a few major States like Punjab, and Uttar

186

Pradesh, most of India today is not seeing agricultural growth commensurate with the claim of investment. Under Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, giving Rs.6,000 to farmers is too insufficient. The real change which is required in agriculture is another green revolution which is sadly missing. The social security schemes are not being supported sufficiently by the Central Government. Disinvestment target of Rs.2,00,000 crore is very ambitious. But, actually it is not going to be achieved. How much has merger of banks or capitalization or recapitalization helped? What is being done about those private banks and NBFCs, where money of millions of common people is invested and they are at huge risk. If immediate corrective action is not taken, it can again create many PMC Banks in future. 'Make in India' is a very noble initiative. In defence, how much of money has come in the 'Make in India' Programme. I think, we need to hear from the Finance Minister about how much investment has come on that. One of the largest investment and the largest employment providers in the country is the construction industry. Even those few steps, which have been announced in the Budget, are they really going to give a higher economic activity? Exports have declined year on year in the last five years. How much is being done to reinvigorate the export economy of our country? States are not getting their money which is due on account of GST. There are months of backlog and the amounts of backlog. How are the States, for which it is the only source of revenue, going to sustain. PROF. MANOJ KUMAR JHA: Article 39 should be read while preparing the Budget. If you look at issues like food security, health, education and employment, the Budget addresses them very, very poorly. Practically, there is no coherent vision. Probably, a new philosophy has emerged in our nation or across the nations that the only savior is the crony capitalism. If you take the rate of inflation into account, there is barely an increase for , mid-day meal scheme or maternity benefits. I also believe that unemployment is at a forty-five year high. This is a huge problem and no symbolic intervention has been made in the budget in relation to unemployment. This unemployment will take such a form that I am afraid that in the coming days we will have to see horrific images in our country, in our society. MGNREGA has less allocation. Inequality is

187 also going to increase due to unemployment. Many people have talked about wealth concenrration. Wealth concentration will have ill effects in society. As per CAG audit of 2017-18, education cess of Rs 94,036 crore has remained unutilized. Teacher employment is not being done here, schools do not have infrastructure, quality is not being talked about. There is no special package and special status for Bihar. This is a matter of trouble. LIC's situation has caused a lot of pain to us. The National Life Insurance Corporation used to protect our lives, but we were not able to keep its life safe. This should be a matter of concern for all of us. The Government brings a lot of flexibility in things like taxes. Congestion in thoughts will not take you anywhere. SHRI ASHOK SIDDHARTH: When the people of India give full mandate to a party, it provides a mandate not only for political stability but also for improving the social and economic condition of large population of the country. It is unfortunate that 85 to 90 per cent of the population of this country is not yet taken care of by the governments. Baba Saheb had said, "On 26 January 1950, we are going to enter an era of mutual opposition. How long will we live a life of mutual opposition?" "How long will we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? India, which is a country with 17.7 per cent of the world's total population, has 73 per cent of the total capital of that country in the hands of one per cent of the people." Even today, governments discriminate against Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the budget or in education or government jobs. For the year 2020-21, the allocation of only 83,257 crores has been made for scheduled castes. This allotment for SC / ST has not been done according to the population. Even today a person is born with caste and dies with caste. The basic foundation of the economy is savings, consumption and investment. This budget does not show proper provision of savings, consumption and investment. There is a lack of concrete intentions in terms of job creation. I welcome what has been said by the Hon'ble Finance Minister for formulating an education policy in the field of education. Why cannot a system of 'one nation, one education' be made? The health budget has not been cut despite the economic crisis. The biggest unfortunate thing in this budget is MNREGA. Reducing the MNREGA budget by nine and a half thousand rupees is bad news for the poor, villagers struggling with employment crisis in the country.

188

Uttar Pradesh, which is the largest state in the country by population, has more than 1 crore 73 lakh job card holders. The 1.5 times of the price of produce for the farmers is a distant idea, even the purchasing power of farmers is gradually decreasing. The government's lack of attention to the village, poor, labourers and farmers proves that this budget has particularly encouraged privatization. The biggest loss from privatization occurs to SC, ST and OBC, because the government does not provide reservation in the private sector. SHRI JAIRAM RAMESH: I thought that the Budget would at least recognize what ails the Indian economy today. The fundamental diagnosis of the ills of the economy was absent throughout the Budget Speech. In the last three years, the three big bang announcements have all been outside the Budget. Demonetisation was outside the Budget; GST, while it was mentioned in the Budget, the implementation was outside the Budget. The corporate tax cuts was outside the Budget. The Finance Minister's role is to intermediate the demands that come from different sources, both within Government and outside Government. It is not an easy job, it is the most difficult job for any Government. GDP is not declining. GDP growth rate is declining. Because investment rates are declining. Now, growth comes from investment. Investment comes from savings. The most serious problem is that savings rates are falling in India. I would urge the Finance Minister to please pay attention to the central feature of the Indian economic malaise today which is a fall in savings rates. The entire Budget hinges on raising Rs. 2,10,000 crores from disinvestment, largely from LIC and IDBI. We always talk of real GDP which means GDP adjusted for inflation. She is assuming that income tax rates, GST collections, Customs Duty collections will increase at 10 per cent and over. But, in view of what has happened in recent years, these assumptions are very unrealistic. This Budget is based on a massive privatization. This is detrimental to the economy in the long run. This is not going to be Jivan Bima Nigam, it will be Budget Bima Nigam. If we are going to start opening doors through an IPO, as far as LIC is concerned, I don’t know where we are headed to. In any case, three Acts have to be amended by both the Houses for taking LIC to IPO. But, I wish to draw the attention of the House to the dangerous implications of making a Budget dependent on the IPO of the LIC. There is also privatization of the BPCL. There is

189 privatization of the strategic companies. This, again, is something a danger call for the Government and the country. There is absolutely no mention of how much money the Budget will give to recapitalize banks. But, we know that banks need money. Does it mean that the banks are going to go to market? I wanted to say that privatization is of two kinds – open privatization and hidden privatization. This is hidden privatization. With value of banks being what they are, they are not going to be able to raise money from market. The only way they can raise it from market is for the Government to reduce its equity below 50 per cent. So, this entire privatization philosophy of the Government is deeply dangerous. I am amazed that a party that criticized 1991 reforms for opening the doors to foreign investment is opening the doors even more on the assumption that foreign investment is going to bailout the Indian economy. No economy in the world has grown on the strength of foreign investment. It is domestic investment that drives the economy. And, if domestic investment is not forthcoming, growth is not going to be forthcoming. Why is domestic investment so sluggish? Investments are increasing. But, investment rates are not increasing. If we are aspiring to be a 5 trillion dollar economy, we have to raise the level of investment to something like 34 per cent or 35 per cent of the GDP; it is now hovering around 25 per cent or 26 per cent of GDP. Why are investment rates falling? Why are people not coming forward to invest? You have a strong Government; you have foreign exchange reserves; you have no food shortages; you don’t have double digit inflation. Then, why are people not investing? In my view, people are not investing because they are afraid of taxmen, tax laws and discretionary powers with Government institutions. They would rather prefer to sit on cash rather than actually investing. This is something to which the Finance Minister must pay attention to. There is a simplification of the direct taxes. It is a simplification through complication. The basic principle is very simple. You remove all the exemptions; you have a low tax rate. When you have five slabs and you bring it down to three slabs, that is simplification. But, five slabs going to seven slabs is complication. It is very simple. So, what has been attempted in the name of simplification is complication. It would lead to increased employment amongst chartered accountants. They will be biggest beneficiaries of this move in the Budget. The Finance Minister has also claimed credit for transparency. It is true that off 190

Budget borrowings are being explicitly reflected in the Budget for the first time. And, I welcome that. But, when you compare allocations of this year with the expenditure of the previous year in a Budget document, that is not transparency. If you really want to make the Budget transparent there is only one way of making Budgets transparent, that is, to move from the cash system to the accrual system of accounting. The States have got a raw deal in the Budget. States in India are being asked to bear the losses. And, when there are gains, they accrue to the Centre. Fifty per cent of the losses are borne by the States and thirty per cent of the gains accrue to the States. This is an untenable proposition. The Government announced that 42 per cent of all gross tax revenues will be devolved to States. We welcomed it. But, I want to ask the hon. Finance Minister, how much gross tax revenue has been devolved to States? It is 30 per cent; it is not 42 per cent. With the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission likely in October, the States are going to get even further squeezed because one of the terms of references which has been given is a very dangerous terms of reference. The Government has asked the Finance Commission to recommend setting aside money for Defence and Internal Security separately, and only after that, the money will get devolved to the States. This was done without consultation with the States and without any debate in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. So, the States are going to face a far more difficult position from next year onwards. If you want to build a five trillion dollar economy, You have to have strong State finances, but the direction is completely in the opposite way. So, the Budget is very long, detailed and aspirational but whether it is realistic or credible, time alone will tell. DR. VINAY P. SAHASRABUDDHE: We believe and perform on the lines of politics of performance. The Opposition politics has always remained under the dominance of political correctness while we are moving towards national and social correctness, which is in the larger interest of the country. We believe that that has to be given prominence without getting lured by the politics of vote banks. Therefore, if I just point out the salient features of this Budget, there are at least six salient features. One is that although this is an Annual Budget, it has a vision for the entire decade. Besides, here is a Government which has weathered the storm that was created out of

191 various reforms, whether it was GST, Bankruptcy Code, the RERA, all kinds of reforms. We have very courageously met with this challenge, and, then, we returned to the power with regained confidence of the people. We know how Narsimha Rao’s Government tried to implement all the reforms, but, then, politically, it could not succeed. During the last five years and now if we look at the current financial year, I believe that infrastructure development through greater participation of foreign investment is again a very important feature of this particular Budget. We have realized that while we have to be strict about fiscal discipline, we also will have to be flexible when it comes to deficit and related issues. Insofar as empowerment is concerned, I am tempted to give the example of Rail Vikas Nigam. Rail Vikas Nigam is an example of what could happen due to the talent of the non-officials we appoint. Four years ago, Rail Vikas Nigam's turnover stood at 4 thousand crore rupees, today it has gone up to 11 thousand crore rupees. Railways get dividend through Rail Vikas Nigam. This dividend was only 37 crores at a time, today it is 186 crores. The IPO of Rail Vikas Nigam is running up to 25 rupees in the stock market today. This is going on quite well. The Government has reset the fiscal clock and used the FRBM Act. This was important as growth needed some kind of a fiscal support, and, the Government has addressed this particular requirement. The fiscal deficit is likely to be 3.5 per cent in the coming year which means that we are committed to prudent fiscal spending. I looked at the spending and found that the quality of fiscal expenditure has also improved and it will lead to higher impact on revival of growth rates. On fiscal responsibility, an important point is with regard to how we have been conservative even in 2019 and in 2020. This is in contrast with the Congress which has presided over some of the highest fiscal deficits during 1980s that led to the balance of payment crisis and we had to mortgage country's gold. Even post-2008, Congress went up to having a fiscal deficit of close to six per cent that led to double-digit inflation and a currency crisis in 2013. We definitely don't need a lesson from the Congress Party insofar as the micro economic stability is concerned. Keeping the interest of taxpayers in mind, it is very important to note here that the Finance Minister has announced that we would adopt a Citizens' Charter in the Income Tax Act, which would strengthen the rights of taxpayers. Coming back to the public sector enterprises, I am also tempted here to give the example of Hindustan 192

Zinc. Hindustan Zinc has returned 29.1 per cent CAGR with profits at the rate of 32.2 per cent while income from dividend is Rs. 12,800 crore. I believe that we cannot ignore this fact, so we need to think over all these issues by coming out of the traditional mindset that one has to necessarily criticize the disinvestment as soon as an issue related to it crops up. Sir, I was referring to how this Government has moved from entitlement to empowerment. We know that DICCI has been working in the field of promoting SC/ST enterprises. DICCI has provided mini jet machines to hundreds of entrepreneurs by availing loans through 'Start-up India Scheme' and 'Stand-up India Scheme' of the government. Owing to this, while on one hand, many youth of SC/ST community are becoming entrepreneurs now, on the other hand, we are trying to give relief to those who have to do sewage cleaning putting their life at risk. This Government, for the first time, in partnership with DICCI, have given more than 3,000 dalit entrepreneurs tankers, which are now owned by them. They are operating these tankers carrying petroleum products and natural gas. We are not confining ourselves, insofar as our philosophy of social justice is concerned, only to the quota. I would also like to compliment the hon. Finance Minister for her very imaginative and creative idea about apprenticeship-embedded courses in, at least, 50 higher education centres, colleges and universities. I would also like to compliment the Finance Minister and the Government about linking the urban local bodies for providing jobs to local engineers who are fresh graduates from local engineering colleges in so far as infrastructure projects in urban local bodies are concerned. This will satisfy the employment needs of the local persons and do away with the sickness of the engineering colleges. The Budget also speaks about Krishi Udaan and Kisan Rail which are again very important initiatives. There is also an important feature of this particular Budget which is import substitution. The number of items where import duty has got increased this year is unprecedented. This will encourage the domestic players to invest in innovation, size, scale, research and development and will also help us to regain the market share which we have lost to some of the smaller countries in exports. Let me also draw the attention of the august House to certain resolves which were mentioned by the hon. Prime Minister in his 15th August Address on our Independence Day. Hon'ble Prime Minister has made a sincere appeal to the public that we should try to 193 avoid single use plastic. Hon'ble Prime Minister had said in his speech of 15 August that the parents who were giving birth to new borns must think whether they would be able to rear up the child in a proper way. I believe that it is necessary to develop a mindset about it too. When this government returned back to power obtaining massive mandate, many people said that 'This is Modi magic', this is an effort to bring a situation to develop atmosphere of thinking in the direction of development. All these things are true. This Government has acquired over the art of implementation. It could be comprehended by a comparative study of implementation pace of various schemes by current regime and previous regime. Scheme are almost same but their names may be different. As Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna which was earlier named as Indira Awas Yojna. The average of constructed homes was 13.55 lakh per year which as now has been 28.27 lakh per year. In UPA regime on an average 8.29 lakh of accounts were opened per year under Swawlamban yojna. Today it is known as Atal Pension Yojna and around 41.75 lakh of accounts have been opened annually. This trend could be seen in electrification of households also. Through the effective outreach, effective use of information technology, effective use of other technologies including space technology to keep an eye on the implementation, greater transparency, effective measures to ensure accountability, greater motivation to the people who are actually implementating the scheme and emphasis on , this Government have a firm grip on the art of implementation which is turning a new leaf in the history of governance in the country. I have some suggestions as Indian Institute of Heritage and culture is in pipeline. I wish along with national centre it should also have regional centres as well. I also suggest that like the farmer's welfare department the possibility of having a Department of artisan's welfare should also be explored. I have a suggestion for opposition also that it should come out of politics of populism and vote bank. This budget is meaningful effort to move towards the politics of national and social correctness. Thank you very much. MS. DOLA SEN: The economy in India is in a dire state. The GDP growth rate of India slipped to 5 per cent in the first quarter of the Financial Year 2019-20, the lowest in over six years. The World Bank has slashed its economic growth forecast for India to 6 per cent for the

194 current fiscal from April projection of 7.5 per cent, citing broad-based and severe cyclical slowdown. On the one hand, the Central Government talks of ‘Make in India’, while on the other, it is planning to disinvest a number of PSUs, public enterprises and Defence sector too. Disinvesting Government concerns is not the answer. What is needed is to run such profit-making PSUs and to revive not so profit- making PSUs through planning and strategizing. Banks are being merged affecting its employees, workers, clients and customers. Similarly some railway workshops are going to be disinvested. Government coal sector is open for 100 percent FDI, similarly BSNL and HPC scenario is also very bad as the workers are not getting their salaries for the last few months. Centre has announced merger and revival package for BSNL and MTNL. Government of India is disinvesting LIC. When Hon. Mamta Banerjee was the Union Railway Minster she gave orders to revive traditional PSUs but the Government is not granting permission to run them by the State Government on their own. Despite ample scope of revival, Centre is not ready to take the responsibility for their survival. We strongly oppose the Budget, the policy decision and resolution of the Government as those are anti- worker and anti-PSU and towards the disinvestment and corporatisation. It would be unwise to sell off profit making Government concerns and I strongly urge upon the Government to reconsider its decision of disinvestment of undertakings of public sector as well as defence sector. SH. A.K. SELVARAJ: I welcome this growth and people oriented budget as it will pave the way for growth of our economy and will boost infrastructure, agriculture, irrigation and rural development etc. Sixteen schemes and 1.60 lakh crore rupee is provided to agriculture sector. The aim of the Government to double the income of farmers by 2022 will be achieved as this budget provides 15,000 crore rupee for the purpose of loan to farmers. Besides providing solar pumps to farmers, schemes like Kisan Rail and Krishi Udaan is also a laudable step. The budget also takes care of fishermen and youth involved in fish processing and marketing. Jal Jeevan Mission for providing piped water connections may be given more funds. It is a welcome decision of the Government to develop archaeological sites as iconic sites. The Government has also announced setting up a National Police University

195 and a National Forensic Science University. I urge upon the Government to establish airports at Neyveli, Hosur and Rameswaram. I urge upon the Government to include Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Chennai and Virudhunagar in National Technical Textile Mission. There is a need to push Real estate industry. No fund has been allocated to the scheme of interlinking of Godavari and Cauvery rivers. It is requested that funds be allocated so that the much awaited project can be kick started. The Tamil Nadu government is implementing a scheme called "Kudimaramatu Tittam" under the leadership of Chief Minister Thiru Edappadi's Planiswamy, by which silt is being removed from most of the ponds of the state to increase their storage capacity so that farmers can be benefitted. I also urge the government to include Tamil Nadu in the Atal Bhujal Yojna. We are earmarking a much lower percentage of GDP on health than other developing countries. Therefore, it is urged that we should invest more on health. Our leader Dr. Purachi Thalavi Amma and the current Honorable Chief Minister have given high priority to education in the state, to ensure more enrollment in schools. Today, students aspiring for higher education are facing financial constraints, so, the educational loan should be simplified and given to all eligible persons and it should be waived off. With these words I support the Bill. SHRI VISHMBHAR PRASAD NISHAD: When the Hon'ble Finance Minister was presenting the budget, the way the stock market was falling it is an indication that his budget is only a statistic. The farmers had high hopes, and the government had repeatedly said that the income of the farmers would be doubled, but now the government said that by the year 2022, the income of the farmers would be doubled. The allocation to the crop insurance scheme has been reduced, there are complaints that farmers are not getting proper compensation. Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana has spent less than last year's budget allocation. The budget has been reduced in the Prime Minister Agricultural Irrigation Scheme. Farmers are not getting fair price for their products while their cost has gone up. The Government promised that it would declare a minimum support price by adding 50 percent to the C-2 cost. but that did not happen. As far as the Blue Revolution, fisheries and aquatic life are concerned, the total allocation for the last time was Rs 560 crore but the expenditure has been only Rs 455 crore.

196

In rural areas, we see that subsidies on fertilizer and kerosene have been reduced in agriculture. The prices of some crops, including pulses, have not been increasing for the last few years, while the cost of production is increasing. The unemployment rate in the country had increased upto 6.1 percent in the year 2017-18 as compared to 45 years. Not even one rupee has been raised for the mid-day meal scheme of the Government. Honorarium of Anganwadi, Education, ASHA workers were not increased. The amount to Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, which provides maternity benefit, was not increased. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme amount was reduced. MNREGA allocation has been reduced in the budget. MNREGA card holders are committing suicide in . Sir, after the demonetisation and GST growth rate in the country has come down and for the last six consecutive quarters GDP has declined. Public sector undertakings including Railways, Air India are being sold, LIC is being destroyed. Farmers are committing suicide due to deficit farming and lack of employment. Chitrakoot is not included in the budget pattern. Chitrakoot, Kalinjar, Charkhari, Jhansi have been excluded. The entire Bundelkhand is drought affected. There is a constant demand from us that there is a residential ghat on the Yamuna river, there is a vast reservoir of water, so there is no arrangement has been made for constructing the Yamuna canal on the line with Gangahar. Sir, fake ODF districts are being declared. A toilet made of plastic worth 35 thousand was provided in Kumbh fair but to poor farmer only 12 thousand has been provided for the toilet! There has been no arrangement to prevent the farmers from committing suicide. 1,000 cows are dying each month only in districts of Bundelkhand, Banda, Hamirpur and Jhansi because there is no arrangement of fodder for them. Though the Government takes the guarantee but there is no provision in the budget for making India cancer-free. The amount of scholarship for OBC, SC students has been decreased. last time caste based consensus was made in 1931 and It’s a longtime demand too. I request that a caste based consensus be made in 2021 so that it can be known that how many people do not have any facility] do not having any business, so that some arrangement can be done. More than 5,000 industrialists have left the country. The income of states has declined due to demonetization and GST because the entire assistant being received from the centre has been left up to states. The budget has decreased for the modernization of the armed forces. 197

Similarly, the budget has been decreased for environment and forests. The Central Governemnt has no money to pay the salary of its employees. The condition of the states is similar one. The Central Government has now failed in each sector. The largest employer railway has been sold to the private players. Government undertaking have been sold. LIC, that provided loan of crores of rupees to the banks of the country, has now been sold. The farmers of Bundelkhand are committing suicide due to loss making farming. The budget has disappointed the farmers of Bundelkhand. It has served to benefit the corporate world. Crop insurance does not cover animal-led destruction of crops. There are lot of problems in Bundelkhand at this time, but there is no provision in the budget for providing additional financial support. DR. AMAR PATNAIK: Hon. Finance Minister has made an honest effort in the first two aspects, mopping up additional resources and safeguarding the existing revenues, imposed new customs duties on items that can be produced inside India thus saving foreign exchange. She has pruned fertilizer subsidy in an effort to contain over use of urea which spoils the micro-nutrient regime in the soil. The scope for PM- KUSUM has been enhanced to cover 20 lakh farmers for standalone solar pumps and 15 lakh farmers for Grid connected solar pumps which is a green initiative. "KISAN RAIL" and "KRISHI UDAAN" would ensure seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, but such a grid would become non-functional unless there is a similar cold chain system from the farm gate to the national grid. The provision of Rs.22,000 crore as support to Infrastructure Pipeline is a good initiative. We also welcome the removal of Dividend Distribution Tax and extending the Concessional Corporate tax to power sector, start-ups. The deposit insurance coverage has been increased; we welcome it. Increase in the allocation towards disaster relief from Rs.10,000 crore to Rs.25,000 crore is really reassuring for States like Odisha that have been regularly hit by natural calamities. Similarly, the setting up of the National Logistics Policy is a good move. A unified recruitment process is a good idea. FDI in higher education is welcome. The concern is that the entire thing hinges around the disinvestment receipt which has been pegged at Rs.2.10 lakh crores as against Rs.65,000 crore received during 2019-20. The Government is expected to earn

198

Rs.90,000 crores by selling stakes in public sector banks and Rs.1.2 lakh crores by selling stake in central public sector enterprises. The States will get 6.56 trillion dollars in the financial year 2020 against the BE of 8.1 trillion dollars in RE. The total devolution to the States as the percentage of gross tax revenue has declined from 32.88 to 32.36 per cent. The share of devolution was 34.70 and 35.29 even before that. So there is a declining trend. The total transfer to all States has also declined to 52.91 per cent in 2020-21 from 53.61 per cent in 2019- 20. A greater centralization of revenues in the Union Budget 2020-21, in fact, will add to the existing fiscal stress to the States due to revenue shortfall on account of GST. The allocation in 2021 is around Rs.4,700 crores less after implementing the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission. This year itself, we had to take a hit of about Rs.8,800 crores in 2019-20 Budget. Odisha has grown during 2015-16 to 2017-18 at an average rate of 11.2 per cent against the all India States' average of 8.21 per cent. For this better performance, what we have achieved is that we have taken a hit of Rs.3,776 crores in the Fifteenth Finance Commission recommendations. The gross loss on acceptance of the 15th Finance Commission Interim Report would be around Rs. 4,724.807 crores. The Puri-Konark have not yet been included in the iconic tourism sites announced last year. The state is not getting its share of clean energy. The food subsidy of about Rs. 4,200 crores is pending. I would request the Finance Minister that there has to be a mechanism to transfer more funds to the States. The proposal to cover all the households in Odisha from kachha to pucca is already pending with the Central Government. The States financial position is under deep stress because of the 15th Finance Commission recommendations and the economic decline. The per capita difference across States have only increased over time, and yet, the fastest growth trajectory can be seen in the lagging States since 2000. Over the past few years, Odisha has maintained a consistent growth rate, an impressive 8.4 per cent. Therefore, we would like to say that we are not asking for any differential. We are just asking for equity. SHRI K.K. RAGESH: The Budget is a total failure in addressing the present economic crisis. The Government is giving more concessions to the rich. But, at the same time, it is not taking any step to enhance the purchasing power of the common people. Kerala had made

199 significant achievements in various fields due to its focus on decentralization, political empowerment, and on health and education. The State tops the NITI Aayog's Sustainable Development Index. The Government is talking too much on cooperative federalism. We are facing a sheer discrimination in the Budget. The Fifteenth Finance Commission punished all the south Indian States except Tamil Nadu. That punishment is especially on Kerala because of the successful population control measures that the State had implemented and also for the social development that the State of Kerala had made. The Fifteenth Finance Commission is penalizing Kerala for its successful population control measures and also for social development. The state of Kerala had to face severe floods during the last two consecutive years and it was extremely important to rebuild ruined Kerala. Last year as well as last to last year funds were not adequately provided and same step-motherly attitude was very much visible towards Kerala. The state submitted memorandum to the Centre to enhance borrowing limit. Instead the Centre further slashed borrowing limit of the state. GST compensation is yet to be paid to the state. As promised by the Centre, Trains, Highways and Lanes have not been provided to the state of Kerala. SH. NARESH GUJRAL: Rather than giving in to the demands of the industry and many economists to pump more liquidity to generate demand, the finance minister has displayed prudent fiscal discipline by kick starting the demand and growth rate by pumping more money into infrastructure. To fund these projects out of the box thinking has been resorted to. The decision of the centre to grant hundred percent tax exemption to sovereign wealth funds for investing in infrastructure and setting up investment clearance cells for entrepreneurs shall give boost to infra-investment. Corporate taxes have been reduced and dividend distribution tax has been abolished. China opened their economy at the right time as a result of which they got foreign investment, technology and consequently the market. Unfortunately, at that time, their Government was myopic. That investment would have come to India. But, because of their so-called socialistic policies, that investment went to China. We need an expert financial institution the way earlier ICICI or IDBI was created which took care of lending to infrastructure projects with high gestation

200 periods. Launching logistics policy is applaudable. It would reduce India’s high logistics cost. This is vital both for our domestic industry and our exports to make them more competitive. It is good that the SME sector has been given some protection against cheap imports from China by raising import duties on consumer goods. The extension of loan restructuring for SMEs also would help them immensely. In order to remain competitive, we must let rupee find its own value. I compliment the Government for funding of Rs. 1,480 crores for National Technical Textile Mission. It is a noble attempt at boosting indigenous manufacturing. The industry has also welcomed the correction of inverted duty structure. I hope all these steps would generate some employment. I am glad that the credit limit has been raised from Rs. 15 lakh crores to Rs. 20 lakh crores and Rs. 2.83 lakh crores have also been provided to rural development, agriculture, irrigation and allied activities. A lot of stress has been provided on warehousing facilities for our foodgrains by providing viability gap funding. It would prevent wastage of food grains. I also appreciate that the Government is attempting to rationalise the use of fertilizers to promote sustainable farming, along with reducing the harmful effects of carcinogenic chemicals. I am very happy that the funds are being increased for the Prime Minister Bima Yojana which has also helped farmers to a large extent. The solution to the farmers' problems is to give them a fair price for their produce. I hope the Government would give them the right price for their produce in accordance with the Swaminathan Formula. While the Prime Minister’s Kisan Yojana is very laudable, it does not touch the lives of the landless. So, I would request that the MGNREGA outlay must be increased because that directly touches the lives of the poorest of the poor. In order to achieve the disinvestment target of Rs. 2.1 lakh crores, I hope a separate Ministry of Disinvestment would be set up because this is a very tedious process. I also hope the Government would relook at putting a cess or a surcharge because this is not cooperative federalism. Punjab have been arbitrarily imposed a very unjust figure of Rs. 31,000 crores on account of FCI settlement account. We have been requesting the Central Government to set up an Arbitrator with a purpose to decide the correct figure and we would happily pay that. I would request that till we get a State capital, the surplus revenue of Chandigarh should be divided between Punjab and Haryana because that rightfully belongs to 201 them. I would like to express my gratitude to the Prime Minister on behalf of the entire Sikh community for raising the money that would be paid to those who suffered after the 1984 Sikh carnage. This Government must be complimented for initiating steps to punish those big leaders who were responsible for that carnage. SHRI M. SHANMUGAM: The Budget is full of empty promises and slogans. It is very disappointing and short-sighted. On the day of the Budget presentation itself, Sensex had fallen by more than 900 points. The working class, farmers, artisans and women folk are losing faith in the Government. The BJP Government has not made any effort for employment generation. With this Budget, even common items have become costlier. No action is being taken to fill up the vacant posts in various Government Departments and the Government is trying to abolish the sanctioned posts. Because of Government's ban on recruitment, many youngsters, especially Dalits and Backward Community people are suffering. In the name of strategic disinvestment of various Public Sector Undertakings, the Government is ruthlessly privatizing the PSUs one by one and many workers are being thrown out of employment. The workers who are being forced to take VRS are not given retraining and skill development. Consequently, they remain unemployed and their families are struggling to lead a decent life. The produce of farmers should be procured by the Government agencies but no action has been taken either by the State Government or the Central Government in this regard. If the Government had provided proper skill development training to the unemployed youth, they would have been gainfully employed in the rural areas and migration from rural to urban would have come down. For increasing agricultural production and also improving the welfare of farmers, complete implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee is imperative. Unfortunately, no allocation has been made for the welfare of the workers in the unorganized sector in the BJP Government. Budget allocation to MGNREGA should be increased and for its proper implementation, some accountability should be fixed and monitoring should be ensured. Its period should be increased from 100 days to 150 days because the farmers are not engaged in farming all the time during the year due to various reasons. Mid-day meal workers, Anganwadi, ASHA workers should be paid minimum wages. They should be treated

202 as full-time workers because they work for more than eight hours in the schools. SHRI KANAKAMEDALA RAVINDRA KUMAR: It appears that the suggestions made with regard to the Economic Survey are not being taken care of in the Budget. I would like to know how the growth rate above 10 per cent can be reached. The allocation of Budget is not more than five per cent in respect of important Departments. The purchasing capacity of the people has been drastically reduced. In order to reach five trillion economy, the minimum growth rate must be 11 per cent. But, presently, it is in between six and seven per cent. The 15th Finance Commission has reduced the weightage of the population. So, a permanent solution is needed and justice needs to be done to the State of Andhra Pradesh and the Southern States which are highly affected by this. As far as the programmes run by the Centre and the States are concerned, the Centre has been consistently reducing its contribution which is very unfair. There is no reason to disinvest the LIC other than the Government's desperate attempt to raise money through disinvestment because they are failing to realize the tax revenue targets. I feel that these private companies do not have any sense of commitment. They are not legally bound to give reservation to their partner companies. It is not only a wrong economic move to disinvest, but is also against the principles of social justice. As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, the Central Government must allocate funds for the purpose of construction of Capital and other infrastructure, but no allocation has been made so far in the Budget. For other projects also, no funds have been allocated so far. Taking into consideration agitations by farmers in the State of Andhra Pradesh and in order to complete the construction of the Capital city in Amaravati, the Central Government must intervene and given necessary instructions to the State Government in this regard. No new railway projects have been given to the State. No funds have been allocated to metro rail projects and educational institutions. As per recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, Special Category Status must be given by the Central Government to the State of Andhra Pradesh and for that purpose, fund should be allocated. For the Polavaram Project, funds must be given by the Central Government as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act.

203

SHRI MADHUSUDAN MISTRY: There are some discrepancies in the figures of the Annual Financial Statement and Expenditure profile. These discrepancies should be corrected because it doesn't look good if the figures differ in the Budget documents. Having analyzed the Budget in , I came to know about the mode enriching the Consolidate Fund of the State through collections made by means of taxes, revenue and Non- Revenue sources. In terms of Consolidated Fund of India, about 48 percent of budgetary provisions are there for general services including the interest payment, police and other establishment engaged in collection of taxes. Moreover, about 30 percent funds are spent for economic activities. Finally, the residual funds amounting about 20 percent of Budget are spent for social welfare means. The employees providing necessary services in various domains are paid out of said funds. As a result, their families too get benefitted. On the other hand, a large number of people like farmers, agricultural laborers and other employment seeking categories have no assured income. Our Government provides dams, irrigation facilities and other assistance to land owning farmers. Hence, the Government collects the funds and distributes the available financial and natural resources to people in a policy based manner so that the gap between various classes of society could be bridged or abolished in the true spirit of “Directive Principles” enshrined in Article 38 and 39 of the Constitution. The ultimate aim is to prevent concentration of wealth and providing an equal pay for equal work. Here, under the head “General Services” involving 48.30 percent of provisions, the 'Interest Payment' alone constitutes 28.93 percent share. At the time of presenting the Budget in March, the Government tends to project the tax collection higher than expenditure. Again, the actual expenditure under Revised Estimates is on the lower side while the actual spending on “General Services” always goes up. The biggest concern is about agricultural laborers. They are a landless lot. The landowners get water, subsidized seeds, fertilizers and other facilities. Even the factory owners get some kind of bank loans. Only the agricultural laborers are the section of society hardly having an employment of 100- 120 days employment. So, for over 145 days or so, they remain jobless and this Budget offers no solace to this marginalized section of our society.

204

SHRI SHIV PRATAP SHUKLA: It happens to be a remarkable Budget for poor people as well as industries. Our former Finance Minister, Shri Chidambaram ji was the first person to criticize this Budget. He highlighted a lot of allotment reductions in this Budget. As a matter of fact, the allocation for Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Communications has been substantially increased. Even for the Integrated Child Development Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Aawaas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and AMRUT Smart City Mission, the allocation has witnessed a considerable increase. The discussion on Budget must be a constructive criticism. We find that the allotment for Green Revolution too has been inceased. The same holds true for , National Rural Drinking Water Mission, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Mid Day Meals Scheme and so on. Moreover, the tax base has broadened and GST collection has increased. There is a plan to provide solar pumps to farmers. It is a welcome initiative. NABARD will be given an added responsibility to set up and operate greater number of cold storages and warehouses. The PPP model would be promoted to provide better price to farmers for their commodities. Cold storages for the farmers are also proposed to be set up. Fishery was promoted through blue economy and 99,300 crore rupees have been announced for education sector which also includes hospitals, medical colleges. For this purpose, total 4600.66 crore rupees were allocated to UGC, 6409.95 crore for IITs and 445.53 crore for IIMs. People said that LIC has been destroyed. I want to submit that the Government has decided to sell a significant part of its stake in LIC and IDBI so that these entities may be taken on the path of growth. Income tax has been rationalized which will benefit everyone. This Government has allocated 9,500 crore for the differently-abled and the elderly and extended the rebate of 1.5 lakh for affordable homes for another year. Thus this Government has tried to address the concerns of every section of society including the students and the farmers. Discussion not concluded. ______

205

SPECIAL MENTIONS 1. Demand for Granting Dual Citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in India SHRIMATI VIJILA SATHYANATH: For, more than 30 years, thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils have been living in India. There are close to one lakh Lankan Tamil refugees living in 107 camps spread across Tamil Nadu and about 36,000 of them are living in other States but the demand for dual citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamils in India was first made by our former Chief Minister, late Dr. Puratchi Thalaivi Amma to enable them to get employment in India. This was also part of the AIADMK's 2016 Election Manifesto. The hon. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami, has appealed to the Centre to consider granting dual citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamils living in India. The AIADMK party as well as its Government have been favouring dual citizenship because Sri Lankan Tamils have immovable properties like houses, buildings and lands in Sri Lanka. If they acquire single citizenship in India, they will forfeit claims to their assets in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the Union Government should work towards entering into a treaty with the Sri Lankan Government in order to protect their properties after the grant of dual citizenship to them. I urge upon the Government to take necessary steps to grant dual citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamils at the earliest. 2. Need for Including Tamil Nadu under Atal Bhujal Yojana SHRI A.K. SELVARAJ: Sir, The Government has launched a new scheme known as "Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL)" in December, 2019 to strengthen the groundwater resource management in the country. ATAL JAL is aimed at promoting Panchayat-led groundwater management and behavioural changes with primary focus on demand-side management. However, Tamil Nadu has not been included in the scheme. Tamil Nadu is a water-stressed State and has utilized the surface water potential to the maximum possible extent. The vagaries of monsoon made Tamil Nadu dependent on groundwater leading to depletion of groundwater in the State. A total number of 541 firkas out of 1,166 firkas in the State fall under critical and over- exploited categories. In order to improve the water resources, Tamil Nadu has been implementing a number of schemes like 206

Kudimaramathu scheme with farmers' participation, construction of check dams, artificial recharge structures, rejuvenation of rivers and water bodies, etc. Therefore, I appeal to the Central Government to include the State of Tamil Nadu in the scheme of "Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL)" so that groundwater resources of Tamil Nadu can be further augmented. 3. Demand for Introduction of Direct Flight Between Bhubaneswar and Dubai DR. SASMIT PATRA: Sir, Odisha has been witnessing a rise in traffic to various international destinations from the State and vice- versa due to increase in the industrial investments and tourist footfalls. This has attracted various international airlines, who have evinced interest to start their international flight operations from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar to Dubai. However, restriction on landing rights has been a deterrent for such operations by international airlines. In the absence of direct flights from Odisha to other international destinations like Dubai and Middle East countries, the passengers face immense difficulty to go to the desired destinations. This can be addressed, if air connectivity is established between Bhubaneswar and Dubai, which also serves as an international hub for passengers for travelling to other international destinations. Although Air India has international operations from Bhubaneswar to Middle East via New Delhi, it is a costlier and time-consuming option. As there is sufficient passenger load, a direct flight is felt necessary between Bhubaneswar and Dubai. Therefore, the demand from the Union Government and specifically from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to impress upon Air India or any other Airlines to introduce direct international flight between Bhubaneswar and Dubai and to meet the growing demand of people of Odisha for international travel. 4. Demand for Mechanism to Check Biased Media Coverage SHRI R.K. SINHA: Sir, I want to draw your attention on the issue of media coverage of protests in the name of Citizenship Amendment Act. For example, if a particular news channel ran a 30 minute bulletin on CAA, all of it are filled with public opinion and editorials against CAA. At no point, such bulletins gives space to counter opinion or even narrates what CAA says and set, aside attempts 207 to clarify misconception about CAA. It appears that in the name of news, such biased platforms are serving as platforms to publicise a narrative with vested interest and agenda than news which should be unbiased, balanced and truthful. Such media creates an air of misinformation and negative image of the country which violates basic principles of journalism and even license conditions to run a media outlet in name of freedom of speech. Media is the fourth pillar of democracy and except the dark era of 19 months of emergency, press in India has always been free. Since existing mechanisms to ensure balanced journalism have not been effective, I strongly recommend that Government must consider evolving a mechanism which can check such violations in the interest of the nation and save democratic practices in our great country.

Desh Deepak Verma, Secretary-General. [email protected]

208

ERRATA TO THE SUPPLEMENT TO SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE DATED 07TH FEBRUARY, 2020 AND SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE DATED 10TH FEBRUARY, 2020

Page No. Line No. Correction 160 7 Read 'the' for 'those'. 172 7 Add 'for' after 'responsible'.

173 9 Read 'Indian' for 'India'. 175 7 Read 'was' for 'is'. 179 24 Delete 'rupees' after '85,000 crore'. 179 27 Read 'have' for 'has'.

209