LOK SABHA ___
SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______
Thursday, February 8, 2018/Magha 19, 1939 (Saka) ______
OBITUARY REFERENCES
HON'BLE SPEAKER: Hon'ble Members, I have to inform the House about the sad demise of two former Members, namely, Shri Narsingh Narain
Pandey and Shri Raghunath Jha.
Shri Narsingh Narain Pandey was a Member of the 5th Lok Sabha representing the Gorakhpur Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar Pradesh. He was also a Member of the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1982. He was a Member of the
Committee on Absence of Members from Sittings of the House. Earlier, Shri
Pandey was a Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1962 to
1967.
Shri Narsingh Narain Pandey passed away on 8 January, 2018 in Gorakhpur,
Uttar Pradesh at the age of 88.
Shri Raghunath Jha was a Member of the 13th and 14th Lok Sabhas representing the Gopalganj and Bettiah Parliamentary Constituencies of Bihar.
Shri Jha was Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises from April, 2008 to May, 2009. He was a Member of the Committee on Agriculture; Committee on Ethics; Committee on Home Affairs Railway
Convention Committee; House Committee and also the Public Accounts
Committee. Shri Jha was a Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1998. He also served as Minister in the Government of Bihar.
Shri Raghunath Jha passed away on 15 January, 2018 in New Delhi at the age of 78.
We deeply mourn the loss of our two former colleagues. I am sure the
House would join me in conveying our condolences to the bereaved families.
The Members then stood in silence for a short while.
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*MATTERS UNDER RULE 377
1. SHRI AJAY MISRA TENI laid a statement regarding need to exempt
handicraft and handloom industry from Goods and Services Tax.
2. SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS laid a statement regarding need to ensure
setting up of assistance cell and office by Insurance companies under
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in every Tehsil headquarters in the
country.
3. SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL laid a statement regarding
need to introduce Mobile Soil Testing Centres in the country.
* Laid on the Table as directed by the Speaker. 4. SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR laid a statement regarding need to
release prisoners who have served their prison terms and still languishing
in jails in the country.
5. SHRI RAJENDRA AGRAWAL laid a statement regarding need to
renovate heritage buildings of Chaudhary Charan Singh University in
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
6. SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA laid a statement regarding need
to set up shelter homes for 'Anna Pratha' cattle in Banda and Chitrakoot
districts, Uttar Pradesh.
7. SHRI OM BIRLA laid a statement regarding need to set up IIT, IIIT and
AIIMS in Kota city, Rajasthan.
8. SHRI JUGAL KISHORE laid a statement regarding need to provide
residential plots to residents of border districts of Jammu & Kashmir
forced to vacate their houses due to shelling from across the border.
9. SHRI B. N. CHANDRAPPA laid a statement regarding need to provide
financial assistance to drought affected Karnataka under NDRF.
10. PROF. K.V. THOMAS laid a statement regarding need to provide
financial assistance to people affected by cyclone 'Ockhi' in Kerala.
11. SHRI M.I. SHANAVAS laid a statement regarding problems faced by
people of north Kerala due to laying of pipeline by Gas Authority of
India Limited. 12. SHRI C. MAHENDRAN laid a statement regarding need to expedite
release of fund for various Centrally sponsored schemes in Tamil Nadu.
13. SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA laid a statement regarding
installation of Doppler Weather Radars in Odisha.
14. SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE laid a statement regarding need to
improve promotion avenues for Store - Khalasi in Railways and permit
them to appear in departmental examination for the purpose.
15. SHRI KESINENI SRINIVAS laid a statement regarding need to
provide stoppage of certain trains at Kondapalli Railway Station in
Andhra Pradesh.
16. SHRI RADHESHYAM BISWAS laid a statement regarding
discrepancies in NRC Part Draft published in Assam.
17. SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR laid a statement regarding need to
formulate a comprehensive policy to improve the condition of farmers in
the country.
18. SHRI RAJU SHETTY laid a statement regarding need to provide
financial assistance to cotton growers in Maharashtra.
______THE UNION BUDGET - 2018-2019 - GENERAL DISCUSSION - CONTD.
SHRI GANESH SINGH resuming said: Our Prime Minister has set a time limit for increasing farmers’ income. The Government relaxed the crop insurance rules and set a minimum limit of 33 per cent crop damage for its insurance.
Swaminathan Commission had recommended to set the Minimum Support Price at
1.5 times of the crop cost. Our Madhya Pradesh government has decided that if food-grains, for which MSP are declared, are sold at lower rates in the markets, the difference amount will be paid by our government. Farmers of our country are now getting the Neem coated urea on time. Farmers have been granted the right to get done soil health test of their land and sowing of crop will be done on the basis of the said test. The government has decided to construct cold storages. Farming of herbs, flowers, vegetables, milk production, pisciculture, poultry, animal husbandry, etc. have been kept under the loan purview. Farmers who don’t have land-lease, take land on share-cropping basis. The Government will work towards giving loans to such farmers through credit cards for farming. The Government has decided to ensure that every poor person of this country has a house by the year 2022. Medical treatment guarantee of ten crore families has been ensured.
They can have treatment to the tune of Rs. 5 lakh in any hospital. Today, poor people have electricity connections in their homes, children of poor people are getting free education, they are getting health treatment, arrangements are being taken care of to make available two time meals for the poor people, roads and sewers are being constructed today in poor people’s habitation areas. Skill development centres are being established everywhere to train youth. The government has provided four lakh crore rupees in Mudra Bank and ten crore and fifty lakh rupees have been given as loans to young people for carrying out business activities and for self-employment purpose.
SHRIMATI RANJANBEN BHATT: Firstly, I thank Hon. Prime
Minister and Minister of Finance for announcing establishment of Railway
University in my parliamentary constituency. This Budget has a number of announcements for farmers which will go a long way in ensuring remunerative prices for their produce. A scheme has been has been envisaged for irrigation for converting three crore electric or diesel pumps into solar energy pumps. Poor people have been given benefit of Health insurance in this budget. There is a proposal of giving health insurance cover of five lakh rupees annually to each family, it will benefit 50 crore people of the country. Indian women have been gifted expansion of UJJWALA Yojna. The target of gas connections under
UJJWALA Yojna has been revised from 5 crore to 8 crore. Women employees have been given big relief in this budget. They will get more salary in hand as their
PF deduction will be eight percent. This time special attention has been given to industry sector. The Government has tried to pay more attention to domestic production by investing 3794 crore rupees. The budget has announced standard deduction of 40,000 rupees for salaried class. The Government has promised to train 50 lakh youth and to give employment to 70 lakh youth.The budget has emphasized on education. The shortage of doctors will be overcome by opening 24 new medical colleges. Simillary we will get quality teachers by implementing integrated B.ed programmes. Tribal people will get good quality education through residential Eklavya school scheme.
SHRI HARIOM SINGH RATHORE: This Budget is pro-developmental and it will strengthen the new India vision. Now the country is aggressively moving towards achieving economic growth rate beyond 8 percent. The steps to increase institutional loan to agricultural sector from Rs. 8.5 lakh crore to Rs. 11 lakh crore in 2018-19, will be a milestone in the progress of farmers. It is significant to develop and uplift 22,000 Rural Haats. The launching of ‘Operation
Greens’ will bring relief to the producers. Bamboo has the potential to form an important base for farmer’s income. New avenues have been provided for bamboo growers by making a provision of Rs. 1,290 crore under Restructured National
Bamboo Mission. World’s largest Health security scheme has been introduced through NAMO Care with a limit of Rs. 5 lacs per family. In this Budget Rs. 5.97 lakh crore has been allocated for basic infrastructure sector. A National programme will be started for Artificial Intelligence (AI) by NITI Ayog. A standard deduction of Rs. 40,000 has been announced in this Budget. It will be beneficial for 2.5 crore salaried class persons and pensioners. It is proposed to increase the period of
Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojna upto March, 2020. SHRIMATI DARSHANA VIKRAM JARDOSH: A large number of poor and marginalized population which remained deprived of health services earlier due to lack of money now will get quality medical facilities. Government is promising to give Rs. 500 per month to TB patients in the country. 24 Medical
Colleges will be opened in the country. In education sector also a lot of commendable initiatives have been taken. One lakh crore rupees have been allotted in four years for Education. Lot of efforts were made to mislead the people about
GST. Government has provided for construction of toilets under Swacch Bharat
Mission, 8 crore free gas connections under Ujjawala Yojana and share of EPF subscription paid by women employees has been reduced would help in enhancing participation of women in organized sector and also in taking home at least some more money every month. Women entrepreneurs have also been benefitted from
Mudra Yojana.
SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL: This time the budget of Rs. 24.42 crore has been presented. This budget focuses the mission of strengthening of agriculture, rural development, health, education, employment, MSME and infrastructure sector. Agriculture is the backbone of the economy of our country.
The Government is making efforts to increase the income of farmers. The
Government will develop and upgrade 22000 Rural haat in the form of rural agriculture markets in order to secure the interest of 86 per cent small and marginal farmers. There has been an unprecedented increase in the procurement of pulses, oilseeds, and crops during the last 4 years. Operation Greens has been launched to deal with the problem of fluctuation in the prices of potatoes, tomatoes, and onions
–TOP in the interest of farmers and consumers. Apart from this, ultra modern testing facilities will be provided in 42 mega food parks. In this budget the benefit of income tax rebate has been extended to Farmer Producer Company. For the accurate weather forecasting Mihir Super Computer will update the farmers about weather conditions by July 2018. Two new funds of Rs. 10,000 crore have been announced for the pisciculture and animal husbandry. While precisely focusing on women, the amount of loan provided to women self help groups has been increased from Rs. 42,500 crore during last year to Rs. 75,000 crore in 2019. In addition to this, infrastructure related to rail, metro, highway-iway, port-airport, power grid, gas grid, Sagarmala-Bharatmala – Digital India has been substantially emphasized.
Eklavya Schools will be set up for tribal students in all tribal blocks by 2022.
Welfare fund meant for Scheduled Castes has been enriched. Setting up of 24 new medical colleges in the country will not only provide treatment facilities to people but also facilitate medical education for students. A target of Rs. 520.9 crore has been fixed for sports under Khelo India. Status of industry has been awarded to
Tourism and policy has been framed to increase employment in this sector through
Skill Development. Existing rebate in transport allowance and miscellaneous medical expenditures is replaced with standard deduction of Rs. 40,000. It will provide benefit to 2.5 crore employees and pensioners. For senior citizens, limit of income tax rebate on the income from bank interest has been increased from Rs. 10 thousand to Rs. 50 thousand. Rebate on the interest from the deposits in banks and post offices has been increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000. In order to ensure better efficiency and transparency in direct tax collection e-tax collection has been proposed. Employment generation and participation of women in it has been stressed. Railway which is the life line of the country is being developed. Above all, ambitious smart city mission has been given utmost importance. The schemes for affordable housing for urban and rural middle class people on low interest and subsidy are in progress. With this, I would like to request the Government to introduce a direct train between Mahesana in North Gurjarat and Surat, Mumbai and provide halt to four trains like Garib Rath.
SHRI P. KUMAR: It is clear that we are in the midst of an agrarian crisis.
The enhancement of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops to cover at least 1.5 times that of the production cost will prove to be a game changer for the farmer community. But as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, we need water for irrigation. The farmers of the delta region are facing huge distress. I request the
Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board immediately. Chennai is expanding faster and needs strengthening of its suburban train system. Universal
Health Insurance can improve the quality of life of poor families and help increase productivity. The Union Budget has reduced the rate of corporate tax to 25 percent to companies with turnover of less than Rs. 250 crores. However, the expectations of the MS&ME are far greater and they need to be supported more as they are the significant contributors to new employment generation. The country is going through a difficult phase of economic development. It needs acceleration and stabilisation of the growth momentum.
SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE: This budget is called Farmer’s budget in which decision of MSP for all crops has been taken and also details of
Agriculture production record have been given but there is no mention how to double farmers income, check their suicides and to remove middlemen. Increase in allotment for agriculture and allied sector, agriculture loan and increasing MSP 1.5 times, proposal of giving Rs 05 lac per family per year to 10 crore families under
Rashtriy Bima Yojana, allocation of 600 crore to riddance from TB, Rs 1200 crore for health wellness are welcome steps. Government should pay heed to recovery of money from poor women in the name of Ujjwala Yojana. The Proposal of improving facilities of warehouse and developing Rural Hat Agriculture Market has been made but there is need of storage of perishable crops. Stress has been given on Bharatmala project and constructing roads on border areas but work of
Dehu road to Satara on NH 4 has been incomplete for years while pace of work on
Panvel - Goa NH is too slow. Steps should be taken for construction work in
Ekvira Devi temple surrounded by ancient Karla caves in Maval. Works should be started in the cities picked for Smart City Mission. The burden of cess has been increased on common man battling from inflation and decreasing interest rates on savings in spite of giving them relief from Tax. There is no clarity about the amount of black money and the people related to it. The allocation to Defence budget has been increased but defence expenditure against percentage of GDP is decreasing. While keeping in view the threats from neighbouring countries, there is need of increase in it. Modernization of Armed Forces and salary expenditure is made from capital and revenue expenditure respectively and separate arrangement has been made for defence pension. The proposal of not increasing the Rail fare, accelerating the freight, converting all narrow - gauge routes into broad – gauge routes, closing all unmanned railway crossings, equipping trains with CCTV, laying new railway tracks and doubling of it are appreciable steps but there is need of clarity on the time - limit and strategy of it. The proposal of doubling rail track for Mumbai, expansion of suburban rail line, Elevated corridor, Escalator on platforms are good steps. The old rail line between Pune and Mumbai is crucial but there is need of constructing a tunnel in Lonavala-Khandala-Khopoli Ghat. There is also a need of taking steps in the interest of Para Military Forces. There is no mention of financial condition of railway, progress made in work regarding new rail lines, so more transparency in this respect is required.
SHRI A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN: The new India budget is aims for an enhanced ease of Living. Two crore toilets to be constructed under Swachh Bharat is the need of the hour. But I wish to emphasize that adequate supply of water is very crucial and it is the duty of the Union Government to provide financial component for adequate water supply for the better maintenance of toilets. The target for Ujjwala Yojana raised to 8 crore beneficiaries in this budget but there is need to maintain an equitable share on the population of the states. In the letter written to the honourable Prime Minister Purachi Thalaivi Amma had prioritised three projects for implementation through SPV with the joint participation of the
Railways. It is heartening to see that the government will partner with Tamil Nadu for developing sub-urban systems in Chennai. Similarly for the fast developing
Tier-2 cities deserve more attention as far as the railway projects are concerned.
Apart from fulfilling important demands made by our leader Puratchi Thalaivi
Amma pertaining to Railways, it is also requested to the government to allocate sufficient funds for early completion of these projects.
SHRI C. MAHENDRAN: Coconut farming is an important occupation of people of Pollachi Parliamentary Constituency. There is a growing demand for supply of coconuts and coconut oil through Public Distribution System. By providing a good Minimum support price (MSP) for coconuts, indigenous production of coconuts will increase. Tamil Nadu stands first in the production of coconuts (6917.25 Million Nuts) and productivity (14872 nuts/Hac). Government of Tamil Nadu has proposed a special package with a total outlay of Rs. 3397.80 crores as this scheme would raise yield and increase edible oil production. The
Government of India may kindly consider early sanction of scheme for the
Rejuvenation and Replanting of Coconut Palms in Tamil Nadu. Farmers in my Pollachi Parliamentary Constituency depend mainly on a reasonable Minimum
Support Price of Copra to ensure good income. I have urged the Union
Government to provide a support price of Rs. 140 per Kilogram for Milling Copra.
The repeated requests of the Coconut farmers in the country for fixing the adequate
MSP for Milling and Ball copra has left unaddressed by the Union Government.
Sufficient funds may be allocated to increase the pace of ongoing railway projects in Tamil Nadu. The gauge conversion work between Pollachi and Pothanur,
Pollachi and Palakkad needs speedy completion. I would request the Hon’ble
Minister for Railways to introduce two new express trains. The section like
Coimbatore – Pollachi – Udumalpet and other such sections that presently come under the Palaghat Division may kindly be transferred to Salem division to enhance operational efficiency. A new railway station at Malumachampatti is required with loading and unloading facility.
SHRI T. G. VENKATESH BABU: This budget concentrates on areas hitherto neglected. Now the Central Government has also a focus on agricultural and allied growths as the Indian economy depends mainly on the agricultural sector without which even the manufacturing sector and the services sector cannot sustain and grow. This budget is focused in uplifting the underprivileged, which constitute 60% of our population, mostly, living in rural areas, depending more on agriculture. This budget has rightly focused on these areas of distress concerning farmers. This budget seems to have addressed the canons of taxing which spells that the strata of society who has the capacity to pay has to be taxed. The long pending demand of the farmers for a reasonable price for their produce is addressed in this budget, where almost all the 23 produces will get 1½ times of their cost of production as MSP (Minimum Support Price). Kisan Credit Cards to be given to Dairy and fisheries, the non-agriculture sector, by which the persons engaged in these sectors, will attain more credibility. The creation of Gramin-Agri
Markets, electronically linked e-NAM (National Agri Market) and exempting them from APMC regulation are forward looking. As this budget addresses the problems of the farmers. This will boost agricultural production and ensure food security.
The National Health Protection scheme is a centrally sponsored scheme under which 40% of the expenditure has to be borne by the States. The fund allocated in this budget to this scheme is meager and grossly insufficient apart from the modalities not spelt out. In this scheme resources may be moved away to the territory health sector, where the private players will be benefitted enormously.
The massive investment of Rs. 14.34 lakh crore proposed for the development of rural infrastructure is another welcome scheme for road connectivity between urban and rural areas that will boost up employment potentialities in rural area.
Free gas connection to 3 crore households, free electricity connection to 4 crore houses, 2 crore new toilets, higher micro-irrigation coverage will enable the poor to lead a decent life. But out of the net worth of Rs. 14.34 lakh crore to be allotted to this scheme, it is stated in the budget that 11.95 lakh crore is to be mobilized from the extra-budgetary resources. This casts a shadow on this project. The investment towards overall infra development is slated to be Rs. 5.97 lakh crores, may boost up overall growth. But nearly Rs. 1 lakh crore of this investment is to be derived from the sale of public sector undertakings. The government is bound to lose one of its assets when newly acquiring another asset. This is a malady. The
Centre’s allocation in education sector pales into insignificance. MSMES
(Medium, small and micro industry) is the worst hit due to demonetization and
GST. More care and help have to be extended to these industries. MSMEs are to be extended more facilities. The Rs. 40,000 relief given to salaried class will be offset by the increase in Education Cess by 1%. They have to pay Rs. 3000 crore additionally from their pockets. No fund has been allotted to be ongoing railway projects in Tamil Nadu. Kanniyakumari and Tuticorin doubling project inaugurated by the Minister of State for Railways 10 days back is not funded. The
2nd phase of Metro and the 4th terminal at Tondiarpet proposed by the Southern
Railway Administration were also neglected. During 2018-19, Tamil Nadu has been allotted a mere Rs. 2.548 crore for various works of railways. The major omission is the long pending demand of converting the Tondiarpet Railway Station into Chennai’s fourth railway terminal. Southern Railway plan to convert
Tondiarpet railway station, 7 km. north of Chennai Central into fourth railway terminal which will drastically ease the congestion and burden on the Chennai
Central and Egmore stations. I urge upon the Union Government to expedite the proposal to allocate adequate funds during this fiscal year. The construction of
AIIMS hospitals proposed and sanctioned to Tamil Nadu has also not been funded.
None of the schemes in TN, viz., the Athikadavu-Avinashi Water Project to which the Centre has given approval has been allotted with funds. Tamil Nadu’s persistent demand for linking peninsular rivers and for linking intra-state rivers did not find favour with the Centre. The Centre could allot funds for Mumbai and
Bangalore suburban but is grossly neglecting the Chennai suburban rail traffic. No
Smart City project in TN is funded so far. The performance of this Government in generating employment opportunities is dismal.
SHRI S.P. MUDDAHANUME GOWDA: The Budget does not address any concerns of the country. Unemployment affecting the economy, society and the country. This Budget does not provide any immediate relief to farmers. There is meager increase in the budgetary allocation for MGNREGA. The Minister has not made any provision for underprivileged, dalit, minority and poor classes of the people. The Budget allocation for Railways is not up to the expected lines. There is no relief to the middle-class and salaried class people. I request the hon. Finance
Minister to increase the MPLADS funds to Rs. 15 crore.
SHRI R. DHRUVANARAYANA: I would like to call this budget of false promises and unfaithful commitments on development and employment. The
Government has failed to meet the goals, which it had set for itself. As for Health
Insurance to poor people, Government doesn’t have clear vision on how required money will be generated. There is no clarity on how government is going to achieve the goal of doubling farmer’s income by 2022. The most affected class in the society due to the adverse actions of union government is common man, middle class salaried people. Budgetary allocation for Pradhan mantra Awas
Yojana (PMAY) has reduction of 5.3%. Agriculture sector is facing a greater threat due to climate change. Government has done nothing to establish early warning system of monsoon rainfall to avoid crop loss.
SHRI RAJKUMAR SAINI: There is a provision for new lines in the
Budget. There is a long pending demand for new railway line from Patiala to
Guhla, Pehova, Kurukshetra, Ladwa, Yamuna Nagar so that Kurukshetra and
Haridwar can be linked directly and tourism can be promoted.
SHRI G. HARI: The new India Budget aims for an enhanced ease of
Living. The Ayushman Bharat, envisaged to give health insurance cover of Rs. 5
Lakhs to around 10 crore families is laudable. The target for Ujwalla Yojana is raised to 8 crore beneficiaries. In this budget, aims to create a New India where agriculture and farmers welfare is given top priority and lion’s share. Tindivanam-
Nagari New line was sanctioned long back, but due to non-allocation of sufficient funds, it has remained incomplete. There is an urgent need for Railway Over
Bridge at katpadi and the Marudalam and Itchiputhur Railway Station need to be upgraded. There is a Demand for extending Arakkonam Velachery EMU fast train (Train No. 43936) up to Tiruttani Station. I request the Hon’ble Minister to provide stoppage for the Train No 12624- Trivandrum Mail at Arakkonam Junction.
SHRI LADU KISHORE SWAIN: Union Budget 2018-19 is the fifth and the final full Budget of the incumbent Government. It was expected a number of welfare measures would be announced by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech 2018-19 with adequate Budget support. The Union Budget 2018-19 could have been clearly marked with higher budget allocations for education, health, social welfare measures for women, children, SCs and STs. However, the Union
Budget 2018-19 only offers a lofty of promises for the farmers in this country without having a clear roadmap for doubling the farmers' income by 2022. The
MNREGA allocations maintain a status quo at 55,000 crores. The emphasis on
MSMEs to generate entrepreneurship opportunities and create employment in the economy has not been adequately budgeted for. Budgetary allocation to Pradhan
Mantri Grameen Aawas Yojana decreased by 9% in the current budget from the previous year. The budget for education has increased from Rs. 79686 crore in
2017-18 (BE) to Rs. 85010 crore in 2018-19 (BE); a 6.7 percent increase. The
Government has still not come up with a revised framework for earmarking under
Scheduled Caste Sub Plan. Revised framework has not been formulated for earmarking under Tribal Sub Plan (TSP). To promote best quality education to the tribal children in their own environment, Government of India has decided that by the year 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an Ekalavya Model Residential School.
SHRI ANTO ANTONY: The Budget 2018 was the last opportunity for the present Government to revive Indian economy, however, the Government miserably failed in this mission. The meager outlays to the ambitious schemes reveal that the Government is aimed at only making publicity. For instance, the
Government claims that the income of farmers will be doubled by 2022. However, the Government has nothing done to fulfil this promise. Hon'ble Minister in his
Budget Speech reiterated the Government's commitment to ensure farmers a return of one-and-a-half times of the cost of their production. However, the fund is not earmarked for the procurement of crops at this enhanced rate. Pradhan Mantri
Fasal Bima Yojna ensures crop insurance for the farmers in the country but it helps only the insurance companies as they have already collected a large amount of premium from the Government and poor farmers. Irrigation projects are vital for the agricultural sector of the country and the Government has declared a meager outlay of Rs. 4000 crore for the Financial Year 2018-19. Lack of funds is one of the reasons for the delayed irrigation projects which is actually affecting the growth of agriculture sector in the country. The Government failed to arrest declining income of farmers, and prevent the farmer suicides. Demonetization and
GST have already affected MSMEs. The Budget Speech kept silence on the inflation and steps to arrest it. If the Government could reduce the duty on petroleum products, inflation in the country could be arrested to a great extent. The
Government may also take note of the declining foreign investment in the country.
The youth in the country is badly in need of skill training and the Government's outlay for the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yjana (PMKVY) is only Rs. 1171 crore. While the Government claims that it is dedicated to empower, women its allocation in this regard is minimal. The Budget ignored the welfare of the persons with disabilities and senior citizens. The outlays for Start Up India, Digital India,
Skill India Programme, Stand Up India etc are minimal. The middle class expected a revision in the income tax. However, the Budget brought them disappointment. The Budget neglected the public health sector and the Defence
Sector as well. The Budget could bring only disappointment as it ignored and neglected the key sectors of economic growth, human resource development, social security and also requirements for domestic and external security.
SHRI IDRIS ALI: The United Nations has awarded the West Bengal
Government the first place for Public Service for its "Kanyashree" scheme, launched in 2011 soon after Ms. Mamata Banerjee came to power. I demand upon the Government to confer Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the country to Ms. Mamata Banerjee.
SHRI Y.S. CHOWDHARY: There is no doubt that we should respect the
Members and not the numbers and as we are running a cooperative federal democratic system. In AP Reorganisation Bill, there are some pending issues, namely, special category status, resource gap for the first year, Polavaram Project,
Steel Plant at Cuddapah, formation of a Railway Zone at Vizag, establishment of greenfield oil refinery and petroleum complex, support to capital, Vizag- Chennai
Corridor and Bengaluru- Chennai Corridor. I would like to request that the
Finance Minister may ensure to resolve all these issues within 15 days. I would like to request my colleague Members to see that the House functions smoothly. In case within 15 days, these issues are not resolved, I would request to allot two hours exclusively to discuss these issues in the next session.
SHRI DINESH TRIVEDI: In West Bengal we deliver with the slogan of
Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. They can call the Hon. Chief Minister of West Bengal or the Finance Minister of West Bengal and take ideas from them as to how they have been able do all this. West Bengal today is Number one in Ease of Doing
Business. They can replicate that in India. Agriculture has been the focus of this
Budget. Again, I have to tell them that the average annual family income of the farmer has more than doubled in West Bengal. We are talking about doubling it in the next five years. More than 69 lakh of farmer families have been provided with
Kisan Credit Cards. State Government of West Bengal, during 2017-18, has provided relief of Rs. 1,200 crore from the State coffers. Again health is a very important issue in this Budget and I fully appreciate that it is just on paper.
Government has to take the example of Bengal. There are free treatment and diagnostic centres. The State of West Bengal has already given a coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per person. I wonder when this Government talks about only giving Rs. 2,000 crore of budget which is also not directly connected to this scheme. I will talk about the health scheme Swasthya Sathi. One of the wonderful schemes which
Bengal has done. The United Nations has great Scheme of Kanyashree. If the
Government wants to see 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao', Kanyashree should be taken as a model for the entire country. We are grateful to our Hon. Chief Minister for that. When we talk about digitalisation, we have to go to Bengal. For e- governance and digitalisation also one has to learn from Bengal. Monetary Policy
Committee left the interest rates unchanged. Global crude oil prices are expected to rise at 12 per cent. This year, according to the Economic Survey, which will further put pressure on inflation. There is nothing common with this Budget and
Economic Survey. The basic health is primary health. If primary health is not proper, then secondary health feel more burden. Water is the most important thing.
People have to take the impact of pollution. Water requires to be much more potable. Budget has not taken climate change into effect. In Economic Survey it has been warned that climate change was expected to decrease farm income by 25 per cent a year. Everyday, we are killing our next generation. Nothing has been mentioned on this in this Budget. It has a very serious effect. The Railways have gone totally out of the scrutiny of this Parliament. Without a robust railway system the Government cannot control inflation of food either. We are talking about the
Railways as a commercial setup. The Railway always integrates. But this kind of policy will only disintegrate. The entire world is changing. Those Indians who are sitting in the Silicon Valley are redesigning the world. These are the Indians who require to get into India. Give them some encouragement. I would like to request this Government. Please listen to their ideas because India is the greatest country and it will be remain great.
SHRI BALBHADRA MAJHI: The promise of working towards strengthening social justice and economic democracy to usher ease of living for the common man is far from reality. Many cases of atrocities towards dalits are still reported from across the country. Banks are denying loans to tribals on the plea that their land is not mortgagable. Their children are denied education loans. They cannot afford education in private education institutes as they cannot afford the exorbitant fees charged by them. There is no regular cadre of teachers in the existing schools. The promise about equality and equal opportunities is far from the reality. The demand for fund allotment proportionate to the population for SC,
ST and other weaker sections has not been addressed. There is a gap of about five lakh doctors. Opening only 24 new medical colleges is not going to fill the gap.
New health policy is not going to help the common man. Government should think about strengthening infrastructure and address malnutrition in rural areas.
Only Swachh Bharat scheme is successful to some extent. Under Ujjwala Yojana, against the total beneficiaries of 3.3 crores, two crore beneficiaries were included prior to 2014. The initiative taken to eradicate triple talaq is welcome step but modify the provisions in the Bill so that the Act becomes effective without further delay. 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' is more of a slogan than real result at the ground level. Under Jan Dhan Yojana, banks are insisting for minimum balance of
Rs.5000. There is acute shortage of banks and ATMs in Narbarangpur.
Implement Swaminathan Commission's recommendations to enhance minimum support price of all agricultural produces. Farmers' suicide has increase. Pradhan
Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has benefited the insurance companies instead of farmers. Government is not showing any interest in resolving Mahanadi dispute.
'Digital India' has not reached Nabarangpur Parliamentary Constituency in Odisha.
Allotment of funds on education is hardly 0.56% of GDP. National Educaiton
Policy with uniform and common syllabus across India should be adopted. There is need to expand the scope of syllabus to include agriculture and skill development.
Fund allotment in innovation is required. Create world class infrastructure in sports. There is a lot to be achieved in improving performance of Railway. The issue of Diamond Quadrilateral Project and Agri Rail Network has not been addressed. There is no mention of zero tolerance to terrorism, extremism and crime. Set up special courts to stop hoarding and black marketing, set up price stabilization fund and set up single National Agriculture Market. Definition of job has to be defined. Bring black money from foreign banks. Improve centre-state relations and involve states in foreign trade and commerce. East is lacking in development, it should be brought at par with west. The Centre is directly interfering in the working of the states. FDI has been opened to almost all fields.
Judicial reforms should be carried out. There is not clarity on 'simultaneous election'.
SHRI RAJAN VICHARE: The Government has allocated Rs. 3,073 crore for Digital India Programme in Budget which would bring digital revolution in the country. The Government has mentioned about creating 70 lakh new employment avenues that has raised hope in youth. The Government has decided to make a fivefold increase in the number of airports. They have fixed the fare of Rs. 2,500 for one hour flight. The Government has mentioned about improving the potable water system in 500 cities and spending Rs. 19,428 crore thereon under AMRUT
Yojana. I request the Government to include Thane, Navi Mumbai and Meer
Bhayander under AMRUT Yojana. The Government has announced to provide
Rs. 2,600 crore to the farmers and they would be directly benefitted by this. The farmers have been committing suicide hence their loan should be waived off. The
Government has mentioned about giving home to every poor by 2022. The
Government has announced to create 100 new cities under Smart City Project. The cost of construction at Gaumukh to Bhiwandi bypass is Rs. 1,000 crore. The
Government should provide for the said fund. The Minister of Railways has mentioned about installing escalators at stations having foot-fall of over 25,000 and equipping the stations and trains with Wifi and CCTV. I request you that escalators should be installed at Meera Road and Bhayander stations as well. They have mentioned about extension of 90 km double rail line in Mumbai, Maharashtra with the cost of Rs. 11,000 and extension of Mumbai local too. I request you that attention should be given on two kilometer long Aroli-Kalwa link in Thane area with the cost of Rs. 428 crore under Central Railway. Attention should be given on the proposal of Bonkode railway station on Thane Vashi road by SIDCO and all the stations constructed by SIDCO should be handed over. CCTV cameras and escalators should be installed in all the stations of Navi Mumbai. The work of parking plaza at Thane station complex should be completed at the earliest. The work of proposed new Thane station between Thane and Mulund should be commenced. The services of more local trains should be started at Navi Mumbai and Meera Road and Bhayander and Thane Panvel harbour road and number of toilets and rest rooms for females should be increased in all the stations. A stoppage of a long distance train should be provided either at Meera Road or
Bhayander and the frequency of trains should be increased. Train No. 110019
Konark Express from Mumbai CST to Bhuvaneshwar should have a stopover at
Thane.
DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN: It may be recalled that Government of India had reduced its share in the Centrally sponsored schemes from 75 per cent to 60 per cent. Consequently, Tamil Nadu had lost out badly due to reduction of horizontal devolutionary share from 4.969 per cent to 4.023 per cent. I request the Union
Finance Minister to provide a special ad hoc grant to our State. The Comptroller and Auditor General has reported a shortfall of Rs. 81,647.70 crore in the aggregate amount of devolution to the States during the period 1996-97 to 2014-
15. The Central Government should allocate funds for these payments due to the
State of Tamil Nadu. The levy of surcharge of 2 per cent on the super- rich that replaced the wealth tax, has shifted the fiscal resource from States to the Centre. I urge the Central Government to include the surcharge on the super- rich and other surcharges in the divisible pool of resources to the States. Regarding CST compensation, I request the Finance Ministry to provide Rs. 5,572 crore as CST compensation claim due to the State of Tamil Nadu. The Central Government should exempt the work contracts executed for State Governments from the purview of GST. The decision of the Government of India is awaited in this regard. Regarding Smart City Mission, it is imperative that in the Smart City
Mission guidelines, flexibility may be provided to the Smart City Special Purpose
Vehicle to implement basic infrastructure facility on a pan- city basis instead of an area- based development. A dedicated mission or programme should be launched by the Urban Development Ministry to develop small as well as medium towns and for a comprehensive development of all urban local bodies. I also urge the Central
Government to increase the allocation of funds for the smart city projects in Tamil
Nadu. In regard to highways, there have been long pending demands which should be fulfilled at the earliest. The budgetary allocation for metro projects has been substantially reduced throughout the country. I request the hon. Finance to allocate sufficient funds for phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail Project. Under the National
Social Assistance Programme, Rs. 200 per month is grossly inadequate for a decent living and the pension has to be increased to Rs. 1000 per month.
Budgetary allocation for modernisation of police forces and the Coast Guard organisation should be substantially increased. The Government of India should finalise the location of AIIMS in Tamil Nadu without further delay and allocate sufficient funds to expedite the progress. The Government of Tamil Nadu had submitted a memorandum seeking financial assistance of Rs. 5255 crore for relief and rehabilitation measures to be taken in the Ockhi cyclone hit areas of
Kanyakumari district. However, the Central Government has not provided any financial assistance in this regard in the current Budget. So, I urge the Central
Government to release its due share of funds to the State.
SHRI RAM MOHAN NAIDU KINJARAPU: The Government's actions have endured that women get their deserved maternity leave increased from 12 to
26 months. Under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, it is a delight to know that 4 lakh crore worth of loans have been disbursed to encourage self employment.
Agricultural markets have gone online and already 36000 crore worth of agricultural produce has been traded on e-NAM. Under the Thirteenth Schedule as per Section 93 of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act of 2014 the promise of a separate railway zone for the residual state of Andhra Pradesh was made. Nearly four years down the lane the promise of a separate railway zone still remains merely on paper without any formal announcement over its establishment. Andhra
Pradesh has a right over a new Railway Zone and the same should not be subject to deliberations with other States. I strongly request the Government to first officially announce the creation of new Railway Zone headquartered at Visakhapatnam.
SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL: I congratulate the hon. Minister for allocation of Rs. 1 crore for Bengaluru suburban rail network project. But, an allocation of around Rs. 50 crore needs to be allocated to expedite the project. For poor families with large health costs that can knock families back into poverty, this scheme can be a big boon to poor people. The Government has set aside Rs. 10 lakh crore for the scheme to be financed by a 1% income- tax cess. As far the
National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), announced in the Budget, to provide health cover up to Rs. 5 lakh per family for fifty thousand poor and economically weak families. I would like to say that it is very good programme under UJALA
Scheme, 28.73 crore LED Bulbs have been distributed. More than Rs. 14,926 crore has been saved per year and 7,470 MW of peak demand has been reduced.
The budgetary allocation of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry was Rs.
51,576 crore for the year 2017-18 which has been increased to Rs. 58,080 crore for this year. Rs. 10,000 crore allocated for Fisheries and Aquacultures Infrastructure
Development Fund and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund.
This will help to speed up the pace of construction of fish landing centers, cold storages, ice plants, transport facilities, processing units and hatcheries etc. In this Budget, an announcement of Rs. 2000 crore for Agri Market Development Fund has been made which shows the importance of retail market in the sector of agriculture marketing. I would also like to mention that the NDA Government has taken steps to increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of "Ball Copra" to Rs.
7750/- per quintal for 2018 season from Rs. 6785/- per quintal in 2017. The long pending demand for a third coaching terminal at Baiyappanahalli station was given
Rs. 45 crore this financial year. Further Rs. 525 crore has been sanctioned for developing stations across South Western Railways. Rs. 545 crore for new lines between Baiyappanahalli and Hosur and Yeswantpur to Channasandra. Under the
Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Ghar Yojana, free connection is provided to four crore people. It is because of the efforts of our NDA Government.
SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN: Hon'ble Finance Minister has failed to make any fiscal consolidation through this Budget. To provide employment to the tune of 2 crore per year was one of the main slogans raised by the present Prime Minister at the time of the 2014 election. But in the Budget there are no concrete steps to generate employment opportunities. Industrial Gross
Value Added Growth has declined from 8% in 2015-16 to 6.8% in 2016-17 to
2.7% in 2017-18. Manufacturing Gross Value Added Growth has also declined from 12.7% to 7.9% to 3.1%. India is basically an agrarian economy and 85% of the population directly or indirectly depends upon agriculture for their livelihood.
During the last four years of this Government the level of agriculture GDP and real agriculture revenue has remained constantly low. The promise to increase the
Minimum Support Price by 1.5 times contains no details. There is no indication whatsoever that the real income of the farmers will increase. Not even an attempt has been made to assess the farmer's income from 2013 to 2018.
The proclamation of the Finance Minister in the Budget about health insurance cover is another attempt to mislead and defraud the poor. The promise of Rs. 5 lakh per family for 10 crore families is only a gimmick. The huge financial implications involved in the Public Health Insurance Schemes have not been spelt out by the Government. Nor is there any attempt to identify resources required for the scheme.
There is absolutely no tax relief to the average tax payer. It is distressing to know that allocation for major employment generation programs like MGNREGA and social welfare programs like Prime Minister's Awas Yojana, safe drinking water, Swacch Bharat etc have been drastically cut.
Development of Railways plays a prominent role in the overall development of a large country like India. It is extremely sad to note that Railway has given a raw deal to Kerala in the Budget. State of Kerala as well as MPs from Kerala placed important and vital proposals before the Government. Not even a single proposal has been considered in the budget. It has been the long cherished dream to have a railway line between Thalassery and Mysore connecting Kerala and
Karnataka. Unfortunately no mention is seen made in the Budget. I earnestly request the Government to take urgent necessary steps to include the proposal in the scheme of things.
SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR: Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar had said that without social and economic democracy, political democracy cannot be stable.
This Government under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi began the work of bringing social and economic equality in the country. Congress has put the people from Scheduled class on heavy loss.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan established Aligarh Muslim University in the year
1875. Later on this House gave it the status of a Central University through its
Act. But since 1950 candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes did not get reservation so far in teaching and non teaching staff.
Shrimati Indira Gandhi did nationalization of banks and at the time of nationalization it was the plea that the people belonging to Scheduled Castes would get the maximum share in the wealth of the country but even after seventy years of independence or after forty years of nationalization of banks, they remained unable to open even account of 30 crore of people of the country.
The issue of demonetisation had surfaced in the House during the governance of Shrimati Indira Gandhi but her advisors advised her that if it done, her political career may fall in danger and Congress would not come to power in the country again. I can say that today we have such a leadership that does not care for the party and even his personal political life. The country should stay whether or not party remains.
The biggest benefit of GST is that earlier the traders used to discuss as to which items should be stored and which items should not be stored. Through you,
I would like to demand that the widow pension, old age pension and disabled persons pension which are different in the States should be equal in the whole country and it should not be less than Rs. 3000/-. Asha Bahuen, the backbone of the country should be given minimum honorarium. A number of vacant posts of scheduled classes are lying in the Centre as well as the States for the last 70 years and they are lying as backlog posts. These should be filled up to give employment to them. The Bill for reservation in promotion for the persons from Scheduled
Class is pending. Nobody except the Hon'ble Prime Minister can do this job because he has taken the historical decision to institute the Commission for the backward classes. Accident Insurance of rupees twelve for all MNREGA labourers should be made compulsory so that their families could get relief in the event of any casualty. Allahabad University, Oxford of the East needs an urgent extension.
SHRIMATI JYOTI DHURVE: The Budget is favourable for the farmers and trade. The Government's entire focus is on the poor and the villages. Hon.
Jaitley ji needs to be congratulated for providing relief to the salaried employees.
Attention has also been paid to provide several benefits to senior citizens in the budget. This Budget will be quite helpful for the working women. The youth will get employment opportunities by setting up new medical colleges. The benefits of
Ayushman Scheme will accrue to 125 crore countrymen. The budget will improve the life of the middle class. The budget will boost the income of farmers. The railway land lying in disuse will be used and emphasis has been laid on equipping the railway stations with Wifi, installing CCTV camera. 3600km new railway tracks will be laid. More than 4000 manned crossings will be closed. All the railway lines will be converted into broadgauge. Electrification of railways has also been emphasized. The Government has also put emphasis on the education of
Adivasi children and Eklavya School Scheme for them has been launched. Target has been fixed for sending 20 lakh children to school. 37 lakh new houses will be constructed in the urban areas and 2 crore toilets will be constructed in the next financial year. Decision has been taken to promote the production of potatoes and vegetables and increase the minimum support price one and a half times. The
Government is working on its assurance of doubling the income of farmers. It is on Government's priority to develop the rural areas.
SHRI RAGHU SHARMA: This Budget presented by the Hon. Finance
Minister for the year 2018-19 is disappointing for the people of the country. The
Government has disappointed the unemployed youth by not taking any measure in this Budget to eradicate unemployment. Coming to the power with the promise of controlling inflation in the country, the BJP Government has not made any effort to control it. The items on which custom duty has been enhanced are likely to be taking on the common people. During the tenure of BJP Government, the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas are continuously increasing. The Government had made the promise to fix the MSP 50 per cent more than the input cost. No concrete decision has been taken by the Government in this Budget regarding it which is symbol of anti- farmer tendency. No serious effort has been made to provide better facilities to the railway passengers. The talents in the sports field of the country are disappointed with this Budget as the allocation to the SAI has been cut down. The Government has made minimal increase in allocation for the education sector which has disappointed the youth of the country. The schemes mentioned in the Budget for the farmers are populist but no focus has been given as to how the Government will implement these schemes. The said Budget is jugglery of words. This Budget is not going to give any relief to the middle class, farmers, the youth and the poor of the country. This Budget of the Government is a road map of economic destruction of the country. The Government should have made efforts to expedite the work of laying railway line from Ajmer- Kota and
Ajmer- Sawai Madhopur rail line announced by the previous Congress
Government for my Parliamentary Constituency Ajmer but the Government does not seem serious about it. In my Parliamentary Constituency, Kishangarh Airport has been constructed but the Government does not seem serious about the time by which this Airport is likely to be made operational. ADV. JOICE GEORGE: Though there are big announcement for rural development, universal healthcare, Minimum Support Price for Agricultural produces but on a detail analysis of the budget document I feel disappointed. It was the promise of the Government to ensure 50% profit above the cost of production of all agricultural crops through Minimum Support Price (MSP) but nothing happened on the ground to alleviate the miseries and hardship of the poor farmers of the Nation. In present year's announcement of MSP, the Hon'ble
Finance Minister has not divulged the formula and other details for fixing the
MSP. I urge upon the Government to fix the MSP of 50% profit above the cost of production of all cash crops like Rubber, Cardamom, Coffee and Tea. It is desperate to see that the allocation to the Commodity Boards especially the Rubber
Board and Spices Board is being reduced year by year during the last 3 years.
Though the Finance Minister was vociferous in ensuring rural development but there was no sufficient allocation for implementing the schemes like MGNREG, schemes for the development of SC/ST and Minorities and other vulnerable groups. The core schemes have also been hit by the lesser allocation. For the
PMGSY, the Government could not utilize the funds year marked for the year
2017-18. If the Government is really committed to ensure the development of the rural populai, there should be sufficient allocations and a mechanism to implement the project in a time bound manner. There is regional and State wise disparity in utilizing the funds provided for establishing the rural infrastructure. The State of Kerala has been allotted less 350 km of roads under the PMGSY scheme since its introduction. I urge upon the Government to allocate more roads under the
PMGSY schemes to the State of Kerala. I am aggrieved of the lesser allocations for the development of Railways in Kerala. I am representing a constituency where no railway facility is available. Though the Angamaly Sabari Railway Rail Project was sanctioned but even after 19 years the railway could complete only 7 kilometers of railway line out of 116 kilometers length. Hence the intervention of the Government is requested. Most of the flagship programs of the Government meant for women and children are been implemented through the Asha workers and Anganwadi teachers. These poor Asha workers and Anganwady teachers are being paid meager amount as remuneration. Hence I urge upon the Government to increase the remuneration to them. Human wildlife conflict (HWC) has a greater attention in recent days in Kerala due to the straying of wild animals in the crop fields and cause human casualties due to carnivores. Places like Chinnakkanal,
Bisonvalley, Marayoor, Kuttampuzha, Mankulam etc in my constituency are gripped by elephant attacks with human casualties too. Hence I urge upon the
Government to conduct carrying capacity studies and contain wildlife below carrying capacity and excess must be culled out. The legal protection of wildlife should be strictly restricted to forest only. The crops as well as the human life should be insured and adequate compensation should be given to the victims on time. I also urge upon the Government to sanction a New Kendriya Vidyalaya at Thodupuzha in Idukki district. The Government may establish a new Medical
College at Muvattupuzha.
SHRI JANARDHAN MISHRA: Due to infrastructural reforms in the system, the GDP rate of the country has shown the change. With the decision of purchasing all agricultural produce on MSP , the income of the farmers will be doubled by 2022. The existing 22000 rural market will be developed as agriculture market due to which all compulsions of the small and marginal farmers will be solved. Agriculture Market Infrastructural Fund of 2000 crore rupees will be created. In the rural areas 51 lakh poor people will be given 'pucca' house. 37 lakh homes will be given to the poor in the urban areas. For the formation of new rural
India , provision of 14.34 lakh crore rupees has been made. The medical coverage of Rs 5 lakh under Ayushmaan Bharat Yojana will give new life to the poor.
Under the Swachchta Abhiyaan, every poor will be provided toilet. By making the provision of Rs 3 lakh crore rupees under Mudra Yojana , the employment opportunities for the women, deprived and the poor have been created. Through the 'Operation Green' vegetables will be saved from getting rotten. Food
Processing will help in conservation and commercial use of vegetables. Under the
'Saubhagya Yojana' , every household will be given electricity connection. Rewa will be covered under 'Udaan Scheme'. Under the 'Amrit Scheme' , pure water will be supplied and the problem of sewerage will be solved in city, Rewa. The demands for introducing the train from Rewa to Mumbai and providing a stoppage of Shipra train at Dabhora are very old. The survey for new rail line from Rewa to Mirzapur via Hanumana has been conducted but financial approval is pending for it. There is a need of a modern educational institute in Rewa.
SHRI KRISHAN PRATAP: This Budget is in the interest of common people. Hon. Prime Minister and Finance Minister must be applauded for this progressive Budget. Several schemes have been announced in this Budget for all round development of the poor, farmers and all classes of the country.
Transparency and honesty are observed in the allocation of natural resources. The emphasis has been given to the concept of minimum Government, maximum
Governance. Several effective schemes have been implemented for the poor.
Electricity and gas connection have been provided to crores of the families.
Medicines are being sold at affordable prices in Jan Aushadhi Kendras. Several schemes have been effectively implemented to provide remunerative prices to farmers for their produce. Large amount of fund has been allocated in this Budget for the welfare of farmers. The Right to Education has been amended to provide district wise training to the teachers to improve the quality of education. The roles of middleman have been abolished to make the country corruption free. The schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Skill Development Scheme have been implemented to provide employment to the unemployed in the country. Lok Sabha has passed a Bill regarding 'Talaq' to give dignity to Muslim women. 'Beti Bachao,
Beti Padhao' scheme has been launched to end the discrimination with female children. The facility provided under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana to poor women has given them the opportunity to be at par with the affluent women in the society. The resolution to make new India has been taken under Ayushman Bharat through which all classes especially the poor will be able to live a happy life.
Several initiatives have been taken for ease of doing business. The provisions should be made for setting up Kendriya Vidyalayas to improve the quality of education, connecting all villages with link roads, setting up a hospital on the lines of All India Institute of Medical Science, construction of an over- bridge and all proposals related to Railways in my Parliamentary Constituency Jaunpur.
SHRI PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA: I feel that the hon. Minister of
Finance has taken seriously the challenges which are being faced by the country.
The most surprising challenge which the country is facing is that 1% of people have accumulated as much as 73% of the total wealth generated in the country due to which the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. The Government has paid attention to challenges like employment, housing, education to all etc.
Priority has been given to those sectors which have been neglected for the last 65 years. In the Budget, the issue of farmers, villages and poor have been mentioned.
The farmers are the backbone of the economy of the country. When India got independence, at that time, the contribution of agriculture in GDP was 52% which has now declined to 12%. The Government has taken it seriously. I would like to congratulate the Minister of Finance as he has assured in his Budget speech that minimum support price will be one-and-a-half times of the cost involved. The
Government has announced MSP for 22 crops however, basmati, potato, onion etc. should also be included. Today, the farmers of the country are facing crisis.
The Comprehensive Agriculture Policy should be formulated by convening a special session. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana which the Government has launched, in that villages have been considered as a unit. We want that instead of villages, farmers should be considered as an unit only then the aim of the crop insurance scheme would be fulfilled. The factory of NFL is located in Nangal. It's expansion should be done. The roads constructed under PMGSY are not of 32 feet. It should be made of 22 feet. GST should be exempted on agriculture machinery. An enquiry should be conducted regarding CSR fund as to how much and where this fund has been utilized. Funds have been provided for border area of Punjab, however, there is a need to allocate more funds. In Punjab, export is done more through sea route than road route. My demand is that there should be integrated checkpost in Hussainiwala and Cargo Center should be in Mohali. In our Gurudwaras, free meal i.e. 'Langar' is served to all the visitors. However, the
Government imposes GST on all items used therein. The Minister of Finance is saying that GST cannot be exempted, however, it can be reimbursed.
DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: It is being mentioned that this
Budget is meant to provide relief to the farmers, rural areas and the poor.
However, on a closer look the authenticity of these claims can be verified. The Hon. Minister of Finance has mentioned credit to farmers in the Budget. Last year the provision of Rs. 10 lakh crore was made for it which has been increased to Rs.
11 lakh crore. The outcome of Budget tells that only 67 per cent loan has been disbursed in comparison to the last year's target. Even today, approximately 25 per cent agricultural credit is flowing in through the private moneylenders. To increase the institutional credit, the Government must see to it that the target of loan disbursement in the Budget is completely achieved. The Government is repeatedly talking of doubling the income of the farmers by 2022 and the Hon.
Minister of Finance has announced to fix MSP at 50% more than the cost price for
Kharif crops. Besides, the Government agrees that the assurance of MSP at 50% more than the cost price for Rabi crops has already been fulfilled by it. I wonder, if the farmers are actually being given MSP at more than 50% of their cost price, then why they are committing suicide. If the Government is really serious in giving MSP at 50% more than the cost price then would the Swaminathan
Commission Formula be adopted? Hon. Finance Minister has referred neither to it in the Budget document nor made any provision. For Pradhan Mantri Crop
Insurance Scheme only Rs. 13 thousand crore have been provided. The reducing investment on health sector is a cause of concern. I have been making the incessant demand of increasing public investment in the health sector in this
House. Hon. Finance Minister has announced Rs. 5 lakh insurance cover under the
National Health Insurance Scheme. This assurance is also not new. Hon. Finance Minister had announced Rs. 1 lakh insurance cover in the Budget 2016-17 which never saw the light of the day. When the Government could not provide mediclaim cover upto Rs. 1 lakh then how will it provide the mediclaim cover upto
Rs. 5 lakh. Is the Government promoting privatisation of health care system in the name of this scheme? I feel that the Government must invest in the public sector under the National Health Policy. We need to double the strength of doctors.
Time bound programme should be prepared for it. But is has been colossally ignored in the Budget. The provision under National Health Mission has also been reduced this year.
Injustice has been done to approximately 80 lakh passengers travelling by suburban local trains of Mumbai in the railways. The estimate of the proposals of new F.O.Bs in Mumbai in the Budget is Rs. 850 crore while the provision of only
Rs. 82 crore has been made. Communication based train control system would double the frequency of local trains. This project needs to be taken up on war footing. The Hon. Minister of Finance has made a provision for Rs. 900 crore for passenger amenities on paper while merely Rs. 200 crore have been allocated for it. The jugglery of figures is the chief characteristic of this year's Budget. Demand for increasing the slab was being made which is currently only Rs. Two and a half lakh. Hon. Minister of Finance would be remembering that he did not allow the slab to be increased when he was in Opposition. This Budget does not contain any infrastructural change as far as farmers, middle class, train passengers or health sector is concerned.
SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH: This Budget is not a pro- poor rather the one which is beneficial to the corporate houses. According to the Census 2011, there are 16.6% SC's, ST's in India. Allocation under Scheduled Caste Component and Scheduled Tribe Component should be in proportion to the population. As a step towards addressing the increasing inequalities between SC/ ST and other dominant class, the policy of Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) and Special Component Plan
(SCP) were introduced during 5th Five Year Plan and 6th Five Year Plan respectively. Allocations under these plans were mandated to be in proportion to the population. In the FY 2017-18, the Government merged the Plan and Non-
Plan components of the Budget. Annual Budget 2018-19 allocated 6.55% towards
Welfare of SCs which is short of approximately 16.6% of SC population in the country, to maintain proportionate allocation. Union Budget 2018-19 allocated
4.53% towards Welfare of STs which is 4.07% short of approximately 8.6% in terms of ST population. 8 of the important schemes for SC/STs are severely under- funded. The total gap in schemes for SC is Rs. 1,14,717 crore and for ST is
Rs. 54676 crore. This amounts to a sizeable proportion, for which schemes have to be innovated that is relevant for bridging the gap between SC/ST and others. The
Official data shows that SCs are landless or marginal landholders and the trend continues even today. Unfortunately, the Budget fails to mention and acknowledge the realities of SC-ST women agricultural labourers and landowners. Rs. 20 crore have been allocated in the Union Budget 2018-19 towards the rehabilitation of manual scavengers. This is hardly sufficient to achieve the objective of abolition of Manual Scavenging in this country. Many Departments and Ministries should revise their guidelines for creating special provisions and tailor- made projects for the development of SCs and STs. An independent authority/ commission chaired by the Cabinet Secretary/ Chief Secretary should be created for the progression of
SC and STs. Otherwise, the funds will not reach the beneficiary. Education is the key to the progress of the Dalits and Adivasis. It is possible only through Budget support from Union Government. There is huge deficit of funds for Post Matric
Scholarship for SC' s and ST's. I urge upon Government to take action to set up
Special Courts for speedy trial of cases related to Dalit and Adivasi community.
DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT: With India now featuring amongst the eight economies worldwide that have a $2 trillion plus nominal GDP, its budget has implications for the global economy as well. This budget’s tone was reasonably populist and for good reason too! India’s Finance Minister recommended better minimum support-prices (MSP) for certain agri-produce, apart from strengthening crop insurance. A mass-scale health insurance scheme was announced for the poor, covering up to Rs. 0.5 million. Gas connections were to be given to poor women. Socially-backward communities were allocated outlays in education, etc. Most of these initiatives have impact on the poor as well as the rural. This move was sorely needed, both economically and politically. India needs more incentives to expand retail financial services and microfinance networks across all rural districts that can mobilize this investment. While financial inclusion has been a policy of the government, it should have received more emphasis in the budget to complement its push towards rural incomes. The budget’s continued focus to invest in infrastructure like roads and highways, as well as irrigation, should help in job-creation to some extent. The budget also gave a corporate tax incentive for smaller companies.
SHRI ABHISHEK SINGH: This budget is about fulfilling the dreams of bright future of 125 crore people of this country. This is about providing social and financial security to the poor of the country and relieving their anxiety. This will be helpful in providing the women respect and strength. This will be helpful in providing employment and self-employment opportunities to the youth, providing due respect to the farmers for their hard work, getting 50 crore poor and middle class people free from health concerns and taking India on the peak of supreme glory. I would like to thank Hon. Prime Minister and Hon. Finance Minister for formulating policies keeping in mind the hard work of the youth and the people of poor families. Through various schemes like Mudra Loan, Stand-up India, Skill
India and others, the government has created such an atmosphere that even a poor man could dream to improve his financial condition in future by doing hard work.
He can be a job provider rather than being a job seeker. I would like to mention this point before the Members of the House that when we introduce the government schemes among the people not merely as Government schemes but as mass movement, it gives a pleasant outcome. For example, when the Hon. Prime
Minister invoked the country under ‘Clean India Campaign’ to construct toilets in every house of the country in women’s honour; a women’s group in Rajnandgaon, which consists of lakhs of women, have decided to construct toilets in their houses instinctively and without any Government assistance and to utilize the assistance being provided by the Government in the development of the village. I would like to request the poor, the youth and the women of the country to play important role in making a new India which is moving forward not only through the policies made by the government but keeping in mind the expectations and aspirations of
125 crore people of the country. With these good wishes, I conclude.
SHRI TEJ PRATAP SINGH YADAV: The President’s Address and the
Budget Speech do not seem to raise any concrete hope in the hearts of the common man of this country. GDP is continuously decreasing. Big claims of development proved hollow. The government has failed to meet the target of fiscal deficit during the last three years. The middle class is quite disappointed with the provisions of income tax. The government is the well-wisher of the corporates only and farmers and the middle class do not figure in its agenda. The decline in sensex also indicates that the market has rejected this Budget of the Government. By increasing import duty on 45 articles in the Budget, the government has changed Make-in-India Programme into Protect-in-India Programme. Today the price of petroleum is maximum in the last four years. The gap between the rich and the poor has further increased. Even after four years the condition of farmers is getting bad to worse. Continuous suicides by farmers even after record production and throwing of their crops on roads indicate that the government has given only hollow assurance to the farmers. It is my demand from government that the MSP of potato is fixed at such price that the farmers get some relief. No special provision has been made in this budget for irrigation. For health only 0.3 per cent of GDP has been allocated. Medical treatment up to the amount of Rs. 5 lakh has been promised for 50 crore people, assuming five persons per family. But only two thousand crore rupees has been allocated under this scheme which is quite meagre. The government has not disclosed how it would identify such families, who will pay the premium. Regarding education far less budget allocation has been made. ‘Persons with hawai chappal will travel in planes’, this claim of the government has also proved hollow. The incidents of atrocities against the minorities and dalits has increased, regarding discontinuing haj subsidy I had asked the government how it proposes to utilize the amount accruing as a result of discontinuation of subsidy, the government did not give a clear reply. The government has reduced the amount proposed to be spent on the security of the country. The incidents of the violation of ceasefire has increased recently and our soldiers are getting martyred everyday. Pakistan and China are also continuously trying to infiltrate into our territory. In such a scenario reduction in the budget provisions for the Army will adversely affect the morale and preparation of our
Army. The country is grappling with jobless growth. The government talks about skill development but has been unable to spend the total amount allocated for this purpose. The government has also reduced the grandiosity of the Rail Budget.
Today there are 2 lakh 20 thousand vacancies in the Railways and 1 lakh 40 thousand vacancies out of this are in the safety department of railways. Before bullet train our priority should have been to improve the present condition of the railways. This government has failed to meet the expectations of the people.
SHRI P.C. GADDIGOUDAR: The budget is very good for the over-all development of the nation with focus on fulfilling the dreams of every section including the poor, the farmers, rural workers, women, dalits, small business and the under privileged. It has focused on income security of farmers. The farmers should get full benefit of the MSP announced by the Government. The Finance
Minister has announced to launch a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families providing coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. It has been announced to increase the loans for Self Help Groups of Women. The allocation to National Rural Livelihood Mission has also been increased substantially. Prominent tourist sites in my Constituency namely Badami,
Pattadakal and Aihole are historical places. Tourists amenities should be enhanced there. I request the Government to provide more funds for completing the works of
National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) and
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). A provision of Rs. 1.48 crore has been made for capital expenditure for Railways with a view to improving and modernizing the basic infrastructure. This will go on a long way to enhance railway safety and reduce train accidents. I welcome the decision to expand the suburban network, particularly in Bengaluru. I urge the Railway
Minister for the new rail line of Almatti-Koppal. Another new rail line of
Bagalkot-Kudachi was sanctioned long back, but only 30 kms. work from Bagalkot to Khajjidoni has been completed. I request the Hon'ble Railway Minister to expedite the remaining work.
SHRI SHARAD TRIPATHI: For the first time such a budget has been presented in which tireless and zestful efforts have been initiated for attaining the mission of a poverty-free, , illiteracy-free, squalor-free, unemployment free India.
Under 'Khelo India' a provision of 200 crore rupees for one district each in rural areas has been made. Three to four stadiums will be constructed in each district which will also contain a swimming pool and all types of courts. If we look at the railway schemes implemented from 1947 to 2014 then we will find that it is the first government that has managed to do such an amazing amount of work in this period of three and a half years. Today the government has taken a revolutionary decision. 800 medicines are being sold through Jan Aushadhi Kendras. More than 3000 such kendras have been opened so far. Health insurance cover amounting from five lakh rupees to ten lakh rupees has been made available in the current budget. Budget provision for opening 24 new medical colleges has been made.
Three hundred and fifty para-medical centres are being opened. Wherever para- medical centres are opened there would be a rush to open new hospitals in those rural areas also. This government has doubled the budget provision for farmers, villages, the poor and the food processing sector. Cottage industries are being set- up in rural areas. The government has made budget provision for small units through the MSME Ministry. If any unit connected to farmers sets-up its plant in rural areas and if it is totally dependent on farmers for its inputs then it has been given 100 percent rebate. The government has taken this historical step. The government is also focusing on strengthening the foreign policy. My parliamentary constituency has vast potential for tourism. I urge that Kopian and Govind Sahab should be given a place in the tourist map of India so that tourists from all over the world visit these places and thus create avenues of employment.
SHRIMATI K. MARAGATHAM: The extremely heavy rains during the
North East Monsoon in December 2015 have caused enormous devastation to standing crops, property and public infrastructure besides loss of livelihood, loss of life and cattle. But even a year after the central team had inspected and given its report, the Government has not provided adequate funds to Tamil Nadu. With regard to Cyclone Vardah in December 2016 which caused severe damages to the coastal regions of Northern Tamil Nadu, no relief fund was provided. The recent
Ockhi Cyclone has devastated the Southern parts of Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli Districts. But not enough relief funds were provided from Centre to
Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu was severely affected by drought and scarcity of water for irrigation. I urge the Union Government to release a special package and funds to address the plight of farmers in Tamil Nadu at the earliest. I request the Hon'ble
Finance Minister to release Rs. 3000 Crores for the development of fisheries in
Tamil Nadu. I would like the Government of the day will create a separate
Ministry for Fisheries and Development of Fishermen Community. I urge the
Union Government to release Rs. 17,000 crores to enhance power infrastructure. I urge the Government to take up the redevelopment and modernization of railway stations at Chennai Central and Egmore in one go and also to provide much needed fillip to all the railway stations. I would urge upon the Government to provide adequate funds for the establishment of necessary infrastructure facilities as the
Power projects at Kalpakkam and Cheyyur and also several Industries are situated in Kanchipuram District of Tamil Nadu. Several pending demands in Railways need to be executed immediately for the benefit of millions of people in and around Kanchipuram. Kanchipuram town being the most ancient and having historically important heritage sites requires funding for renovation and restoration thereof. Melmaruvathur is another very important pilgrim site which requires a new train service from Melmaruvathur to Yeshwanthpur via Kanchipuram,
Chengalpattu and Melmaruvathur.
SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK: A term Modicare has been generated in the media for its policies such as expanding the abmit of Ujjwala Scheme, announcing the Ayushman Bharat Programme. Senior Citizens have also gained from this budget. The salaried class, undoubtedly, have been imposed with more tax. Budget also promises lesser income tax and better credit flow for smaller businessmen. Highly criticized is the LTCG tax which has caused turmoil in stock markets and robbed off pockets of middle class section of the society. Fiscal deficit of 3.3% of GDP for next year is much higher than the ideal 2.5% for the Central
Government as per the recommendations by N K Singh committee. If the
Government is not able to maintain, it will lose its credibility. There is nothing in the budget that can directly stimulate investment except for benefits to micro, small and medium enterprises. With no new investments ventured in through budget there is lesser possibility of required jobs creation. Higher expenditure on health and education was required. The budget for 2018-19 was presented against the background of "slowdown in growth, inadequate private investment and distress in agriculture. Few of the issues were addressed but no fully. There are simply no benefits for the middle class. The Government did follow a 'growth and consumption -oriented' approach. However, there should have been greater incentives and measures on the education front. Exports also did not get as good a boost in the budget. A health cover will protect vulnerable families from falling back below the poverty line in case of hospitalisation. The private sector has been on the losing end by the levy of surcharge and cess.
SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL: Such provisions have been made in the budget which will redress those problems of the weaker and middle class of the society which has shattered all of sudden the financial and social position of these sections. Health guarantee scheme of rupees five lakh has been introduced for ten crore poor families. This will pave the way for opening of new hospitals and augmentation of facilities in the existing hospitals. Besides this will help in reducing the crowd in the Government hospitals as healthcare facilities will become less expensive. Now the Government has decided to open one medical college for every three Lok Sabha Constituencies. The Government has decided to introduce ' Ujjwala Yojana' to provide free of cost gas connections to women in remote rural areas. Initially a target was set to provide five crore connection but now this target has been revised to eight crores. The 'Amrut Yojana' to provide safe drinking water in urban areas and cluster based hundreds of villages is a revolutionary scheme. Under an ambitious scheme to provide houses to every citizen by the year 2022 fifty one lakh houses have been constructed during the last year and a target has been set to construct fifty one lakh houses this year as well.
Earmarking rupees sixteen thousand crore under 'Saubhagya Yojana' to provide electricity connection to every household is a welcome move. The Prime Minister has set the target to double the agricultural production by the year 2022. The
Government has taken an initiative to make the farmers self-reliant by framing a policy to give one and half time higher support price than the cost price. An important decision has been taken in regard to food processing and development of mega food parks. The decision to give hundred percent tax exemption to the agro based companies with turnover of rupees hundred crores is yet another landmark decision. In this budget every section of the society has been taken care of. Modi
Government is marching on the way of development with the motto of 'Sab Ka
Saath, Sab Ka Vikas'.
SHRI BADRUDDIN AJMAL: The message of education is not reaching to the poor inhabited areas. Money is not reaching to the people. Today, agriculture science and farmers are in a pathetic condition. You have showed great concern for
Muslim women in the matter of Triple Talaq, but they are being harassed. Every year floods and erosion cause great damage to life and property in Assam. It should be declared as national calamity. Dhubri-Phulwadi bridge is in my Constituency. It is crucially required. Rupasi airport should be reopened. The Assam-Bangladesh border is a matter of safety and security, so, it should be fenced in order to permanently solve the problem of intrusion from Bangladesh, Prior to expiring of its term this Government will provide a branch of Aligarh Muslim University in my Dhubri Constituency because this is a matter of education of minorities. There is an urgent need for a Unani medical college or AYUSH medical college in Dhubri. Similarly, there is an urgent need of engineering colleges in Karimganj,
Naugaon, Dhubri etc. I hope the Government will pay attention in this regard.
There are only two paper mill industries in Karimganj-Badarpur and Naugaon in
Assam which are lying closed since last one year. I request that both of these mills should be revived as soon as possible.
SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA: A visionary budget has been given to the people of the country in which it has been resolved that Indian economy will be the fastest growing economy in the world and we will achieve more than 8 percent
GDP growth in future. 17 sustainable goals were set by India, the commitment to achieve all of them has been shown in this budget. A revolutionary decision has been taken in health sector, that health insurance upto Rs. 5 lakh will be given to ten crore families within the budget. India can become the great Nation of the world only when its education system and health system will improve. That's why
Finance Minister has given priority to health and education system. It is resolved in the budget to double the farmer's income to raise the agriculture sector, and for this a provision of loans of Rs. 11 lakh crore has also been made, which will prove to be a game changer. Amount of Rupees 75000 crore has been provided for self help groups. This will contribute for the empowerment of the women power of India.
Road connectivity, sea connectivity, air connectivity and rail connectivity will play a vital role in making the nation great. The world is attracting to invest in India due to its policies. SHRI M. MURLI MOHAN: The people of Andhra Pradesh had a hope on this NDA Government. The unscientific bifurcation of this State, we have lost all revenue resources including all premier institutions. It was felt that the NDA
Government would render justice to the State of A.P. atleast this Budget and extend his cooperation with regard to implementation of AP reorganization Act,
2014 including financial support for construction of new capital city, incentives for setting up new industries, funds for Externally Aided projects etc. I would expect the Government atleast to stop dilly-dally attitude and come out their stand on implementation of AP reorganization Act. 2014.
SHRIMATI VEENA DEVI: The Budget 2018-19 is a historic Budget dedicated to farmers and the rural India. Indian economy is ranked 7th in the world which is all set to become the 5th largest economy in the world. This Budget has special emphasis on rural economy. My parliamentary Constituency, Munger is a backward area of Bihar therefore it requires special attention in this Budget.
Additional Budget allocation should be made for development of Mokama Taal area. District hospitals in my Constituency should be upgraded to medical colleges. One AIIMS is also required in this area. Efforts should be made for improvement of Engineering, Medical and higher education. Rail and Air connectivity to Munger will lead to increased number of tourists in the area. There is a need to allocate more and more funds to preserve the heritage in Munger and declare the temples built by the king Karna as major tourist destination and upkeep them.
SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM: This Budget provides that small village haats and markets will be elevated as mandis to provide fair price of the produce of small and medium farmers. It is announced that irrigation to every field will be made available and 1.5 times of the total cost of the crop will be the MSP which will improve the financial condition of the farmers. Introduction of National
Health Protection scheme is a welcome step. Besides, the Hon. Finance Minister has proposed an alloction of Rs.1.38 lakh crore for all the schemes related to the development of education and social sector. Revitalizing Infrastructure and
System in Education (RISE) and Prime Minister Research Fellowship are welcome steps. 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padao', 'Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana', 'MUDRA
Yojana' and 'SAUBHAGY Yojana' are very important schemes. Small and medium enterprises have expanded after demonetization and introduction of GST.
In all, this Budget gives pace to the concept of 'New India' and development of
India.
SHRI NISHIKANT DUBEY: The world economic output has rebounded in 2017 as compared to an eight-year low growth. Both IMF and World Bank estimate that India's economy will grow by 6.7 per cent in FY 2017-18. However, notably, India is still one of the best performing economies in the world. Retail inflation has fallen sharply. The Government aims to bring down fiscal deficit to 3.3 per cent of GDP in FY 2018-19. The Government has proposed to bring down the centre's debt-to-to GDP ratio to 40 percent. Demonetization and GST has increased tax base, and in the long run, this may increase revenue of the
Government. In the current fiscal year, the Government continued with its reform agenda. The Government launched the GST. The Finance Ministry announced recapitalization plan for PSU banks. The Government also approved listing of 14
CPSEs on the stock exchanges. Dynamic fuel pricing has been rolled out. FDI policy has been further liberalized. From a macro perspective, India will need to deal with two vulnerabilities; fiscal and current accounts. Both of these tend to deteriorate when oil prices pick up rapidly. The Make-in-India programme is expected to boost exports.
SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR: I would propose to grant the special state status to Bihar. All the families living in district Nalanda should be provided gas connection under Ujjwala Scheme. The ultra power project sanctioned in
Banka should be commissioned as soon as possible. Out of the proposed 24 medical colleges, at least 4 medical colleges should be set up in Bihar. An AIIMS had been set up in Bihar in the last year. I would request to expedite the construction of this hospital and the AIIMS which is already working there should be commissioned completely. Patna University should be declared a Central
University. A fund of Rs.7200 crore announced for Bihar for flood relief should be released. I would also propose to allocate 1 lakh 65 thousand crore economic package as announced by the Prime Minister for Bihar. A Central University should be set up in Bihar Sharif. GST system should be upgraded. Millions of families are affected in Bihar due to the floods which ravage the state every year.
The main reason for this is the flow of excess quantity of water from Nepal in rainy season. I, therefore, would request the Government to hold discussion with the Government of Nepal to find a permanent solution of the problem. The problem of silt in river Ganga should be solved. A relief fund should be set up to deal with the problem of drought. The regional airports at Nalanda, Purnia,
Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur should be developed. The prices of petrol and diesel should be rationalized to ease the burden of the consumers. A five star hotel and an international library should be set at Rajgir in Nalanda. I would also propose to include at least five more cities of Bihar in the Smart City Scheme. A metro rail is going to be set up in Patna. I would request to extend this train to
Nalanda, Hajipur and Bodhgaya.
DR. KARAN SINGH YADAV: This Government's last budget is nothing but a bunch of announcements. Increasing the income of farmers by 1.5 times was promised in the BJP manifesto itself. But it has remained on paper for the last four years. The farmers' movements and suicides are clear indication that the condition of farmers has deteriorated during the last four years. There was a hope from the budget that some kind of loan waiver would be announced but Finance Minister has disappointed us. This government favours the corporate sector and not the poor farmers. MSP has been announced but there are no government agencies in the market to procure the produce of the farmers due to which they resort to distress sale. In my own Lok Sabha Constituency, Alwar farmers are compelled to sell their mustard at the rate of Rs.3300-3400 per quintal instead of its declared MSP of Rs.3700. Until a scheme is brought to fill the gap between the
MSP and the market rate the farmers would not be benefited. Salaried class and pensioners are utterly disappointed from this budget as the citizens were expecting change in tax slab and other rebates. So far as the standard deduction of Rs.
40,000 is concerned, it is sham as their transport and medical reimbursements amounting to Rs.34200 have been taken back. Government has claimed that it is launching the biggest health schemes in the world and 50 crore people of ten crore households will be provided health insurance cover of upto Rs.5 lakhs. But it has not been made clear that as to where from the resources would be mobilized. In my parliamentary constituency Alwar a hospital and Medical college set up at a cost of Rs. 800 crore is lying unused since its completion in 2016. I would request the Labour Minister to take over this medical college and hospital and provide health facility in it. The previously sanctioned projects in railways are required to be completed on priority. In order to facilitate the daily commuters to and from the
NCR and also to reduce the pressure of the increased population, rail operation on a 180 km route from Delhi to Alwar under RRTS was sanctioned but it has been kept on hold. I would request the Minister of Railway to take up this project at the earliest. My Lok Sabha Constituency is facing shortage of drinking water for years. The Ministry of Water Resources had prepared a scheme to bring Chambal water to Alwar. I would request that this project should be started on priority.
Demonetization and GST have resulted in unprecedented increase in the number of unemployed . Providing jobs to the youths should be our top priority.
SHRI JANAK RAM: There should be proper arrangement for street light in
Gopalganj Sadar and sub-division. A medical college should be set up in
Gopalganj Sadar. The hospitals of the Gopalganj division should be renovated.
The Thanve Junction in district Gopalganj should be provided rail link to New
Delhi and Howrah and the trains like Bihar Samprak Kranti, Superfast, Vaishali
Express, Gorakhpur-Asansole Express, Lichhavi Express should be given stoppage at this junction. Technical school should be opened in both sub-divisions of
Gopalganj. The sugar mills located at Hathua and Sidhbalia should be commissioned.
*SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE: Special care has been taken of the farmers in this budget as India is a agriculture dominated country. Government has proposed to develop markets at tehsil levels. Government has also guaranteed to fix 1.5 times of the production cost as MSP for the crop. I would like to request the Government to promote group pattern agriculture in every tehsil and district.
Government should also undertake some kind of survey of the cultivation pattern of crops. It would help the farmers for the selection of the crop. Farmers should
* Original in Marathi. get an alternative to maximize their earnings through fishing and dairying. We should try to form milk federations in every state by giving subsidy and linking the farmers. Through a budgetary provision for skill development scheme. We are trying employment generation. I suggest creation of agriculture related courses which should be set up at tehsil level. We can construct farm side roads through
MGNREGA scheme which will benefit the farmers. We have been trying to empower people and making them self reliant and independent. We should not be dependent on Government and we should try to stand up on our own and our
Government is striving to realize this goal. Ujjwala scheme has extended gas connections to the poorest of the poor. PMGYS is a very important scheme.
Budget allocations have been increased for this ambitious scheme in this year's budget. The budget allocation has been made for the scholarship schemes for the
SC,ST and OBC students, so that they can get quality education to make their career. Udan is also a very good scheme. It is very important for the overall development of that district.
SHRI ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY: I would propose to make a special endeavour to promote jute industry in India. Jute technology mission should be given due attention. 2nd green revolution needs to be revitalized.
Allocation of fund for the Railways has not been adequate given the number sanctioned projects in West Bengal. All the flagship programmes in West Bengal suffer from rampant corruption. DISHA Committee meeting is not held. SME enterprises are suffering due to imposition of GST.
SHRI MANSUKHBHAI DHANJIBHAI VASAVA: The Budget-2018-19 is dedicated to the villages, poor and the farmers. The hon. Finance Minister has announced to give more than 50 per cent of the cost of production of crops to the farmers. Credit amount to the farmers has been increased from Rs.10 lakh crore to
Rs.11 lakh crore. The Government has indicated its intention to provide Rs. 5 lakh for free treatment to 50 crores of people. The TB patients will get Rs.500 every month for nutritious diet. The Government should overcome the shortage of doctors in civil hospitals and taluka level. The Government has allocated
Rs.56,619 crores for the development of the adivasi regions and Eklavya Schools will be established where adivasi population is 50 per cent. The release of water from gate of Sardar Sarovar project has been stopped due to which Narmada river in my constituency is on the verge of drying up. The Budget will provide employment to 70 lakh youths and 8 crore free LPG connection would be given to poor women. Surat-Muzaffarpur Express 19053/54, Bandra-Jaipur 12979/80,
Bandra Jhansi Express 11103/11104, Indore-Pune Express 22944/22945,
Suryanagari Express 12479/80 trains be given stoppage at Bharuch railway station.
There is no local train between 10 in the morning to 05:30 in the evening from
Bharuch to Vadodara. Hence, a new passenger train be introduced during this period. From mid-night to 6 in the morning no train stops at Karzan Railway Station. One or two train services be provided during this period. Stoppage should be provided for Ajmer Express train service 12989/90 at Palej. With this, I support the Budget.
SHRI E.T. MOHAMMAD BASHEER: Government has no vision or preparedness for addressing the adverse impact of GST and demonetization.
Economic Survey says that at the end of four years, there is a failure in three sectors - employment, education and infrastructure. Agrarian crisis is also mounting in a big way. According to the CEO, CMIE an assured 50 per cent return on cost of production does not help agriculture. I would like to appeal to you once again to ensure justice to the minorities.
SHRI MD. BADARUDDOZA KHAN: Hon'ble Finance Minister has announced some attractive schemes specially in case of agriculture and health, keeping in mind the forthcoming Lok Sabha Election. Throughout the country our farmers are very much distressed. The Finance Minister has declared that 150% of production cost will be given as MSP from the next kharif crops. But it is not clear how this MSP will be settled. The Finance Minister has not mentioned anything about the agricultural loan waiver. Another great declaration is health insurance for fifty crore people of 10 crore families. But sorry to say that allotment in this sector is only Rs. 2000 crore. Lakhs of people have lost their job due to the effect of demonitisation. In this Budget also, there is no proposal of increase in direct tax. Corporate tax has been decrease from 30% to 25%. The salaried persons have got no relief from tax burden. Already they are affected due to reduction in interest rate.
SHRI J.J.T. NATTERJEE: The Government's infrastructure development projects and social welfare schemes can generate at least 50 lakh jobs every year.
About one lakh more workforce is estimated to be added in police departments.
About 30 lakh jobs are expected to be created under Pradhan Mantri Rojgar
Protsahan Yojana. In my Thoothukudi Constituency, salt producers are seeing a decline in the market and industry workers I making no headway in getting better life this year. The people of Tamil Nadu are sad because the Union Government had failed in its responsibility to constitute the Cauvery management Board as per the orders of the Supreme Court. I urge upon the Union Government to allocate the requested funds for the implementation of Grand Anicut project. Linking of the Rivers Cauvery-Vagai-Gundar needs to be approved and supported by the
Government. I request the hon. Finance Minister to release Rs.3000 crore for the development of fisheries in Tamil Nadu. The proposed 2x660 MW coal-based supercritical thermal power project will improve the power infrastructure in Tamil
Nadu. The Thoothukudi airport needs to be expanded. The East Cost Railway line from Karaikudi, in Sivaganga District, to Kanyakumari via Tuticorin, Tiruchendur and Kudankulam is a long pending demand of the people of Southern Tamil Nadu.
There is an urgent need to start a Kendriya Vidyalaya School in my Thoothukudi constituency. Budget 2018 is short will not fulfil the hopes and expectations of middle class majority in this country.
SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR: We support the Union Government's budget. I would like to highlight some concerns regarding budgetary allocations made towards the state of Telangana. The hon'ble Finance Minister proposed that farmers will be given 1.5 times their cost of production but no basis indicated for calculation of cost. The Hon'ble Finance Minister proposed National Health
Protection Scheme to cover 10 crores poor families raising the coverage up to Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. However, present coverage of Rs.30,000 under the
Rashtriya Swaasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is also not being done properly. The provision made in the Budget is only Rs.2000 crores. One Government Medical
College should be allocated for the state of Telangana. LTCG could have been imposed only on corporates. The Government has failed to provide an impetus for job creation and key investment in labour-intensive industries. There is no increase in the allocation under MGNREGA. There is reduction in the allocation under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Swatchh Bharat Mission, National
Health Mission and National Rural Water Drinking Mission for Telangana. The
Union Finance Minister has indicated in his post-budget meet on February 2 that the States are flush with funds. There is far from the truth. There are also no provisions for an AIIMS institution and other projects such as Railway Coach
Factory at Kazipet, as envisaged in the Reorganisation Act. There is a provision of Rs.10 crore each in the Budget, for the establishment of Tribal Universities in the
State of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. This meager amount will not suffice.
With a growing dairy sector in Telangana, the need for funds for infrastructure development is high. Considering Telangana is a new State with many ambitious programmes launched across all sectors, sufficient funding is key to their effective implementation.
SHRI RAJESH RANJAN: Hon. Prime Minister has talked about the farmers on a very serious note. Loans of big farmers are waived off but the loans of ordinary farmers are never waived off. There is a spurt in the suicides by the farmers. The condition of farmers has been deteriorating and the demonstration by the farmers of Tamil Nadu at the Jantar Mantar is the live example of it. We never talk about giving industrial status to the farming and ensuring minimum prices of the crops. Amul milk factory has been shut down in Madhepura alongwith the closure of 22 sugar mills. Jute mill has also closed and there is no sugar mill in that area. I strongly believe that representatives of Panchayat should be given some basic salary. The Medical Council of India should be scrapped.
SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE: This Budget intends to fulfill the promise of a clean, honest and transparent Government. This Budget endeavours to lessen poverty, give impetus to the creation of basic infrastructure and build a new India full of zeal and vigour. Providing 50 per cent more than the input cost i.e. one and half times more Minimum Support Price to the farmers is a huge achievement. This decision will directly benefit about 86 per cent of small and marginal farmers.
The Operation Greens programme will benefit both the consumers and the farmers.
Bringing about eight crore women under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a concrete step. The healthcare insurance scheme to cover 10 crore families of the poor section is going to be a unique scheme in the country. This is good to see that the rail projects are being implemented in a time bound manner after the amalgamation of the Rail Budget with the Union Budget.
SHRI PRASANNA KUMAR PATASANI: Union Budget 2018-19 is
Attacks on People's Livelihood. The budget does not seek to mobilize revenues by increasing direct taxes applicable to the rich. On the contrary, governmental expenditures increasingly rely on indirect taxes which are a burden on the common people. The health care scheme is a mere repackaging of the existing one and no additional allocations have been budgeted. Allocation as a percentage of GDP in various sectors has fallen. The allocation for food subsidy and procurement of crops is grossly inadequate. There is no mention of a loan waiver for the farmers.
The middle classes have seen no direct benefit, the employees see a reduction in the earnings on their savings. In sum, this budget is a typical propaganda packaging exercise. I pray to sanction Budget for Metro work in Bhubaneswar. In my Constituency, Khorda-Balangir Railway line needs more budget to implement the project. One direct train (Railway line) from Bhubanewsar to Konark may be initiated to attract more foreign tourists in Odisha. Necessary fund may be allocated to the regional language. We demanded Rs.200 crore to preserve the heritage of 'PAIKA', but it has not been done yet.
DR. BANSHILAL MAHATO: This Budget aims to take care of the ordinary people of the country. The Minimum Support Price of the rabi and kharif crops has been increased to one and half times of the input agriculture cost. The tax rate of the traders with 250 crore turnover has been reduced from 30 per cent to
25 per cent. This will surely bolster our industries. The launch of National
Bamboo Mission will benefit the people at large. The credit capital to provide loans to the Women Self Help Groups has been increased to Rs.75,000 crore. This will strengthen Women Empowerment. A sum of Rs.6,000 will be deposited in the accounts of each pregnant woman. Ten crore poor section families will be given the health cover of Rs.5 lakh each. There is a proposal to open 24 new medical colleges in the country. As many as 1.26 crore accounts have been opened under the Sukanya Samridhi Yojana. Chhattisgarh is the only state in the country where entire agri production of the farmers is purchased on the Minimum Support Price and thereby farmers are immensely benefited. Chhattisgarh Government is also the first Government in the country which provides interest-free loans to the farmers. The Government has implemented several schemes in my parliamentary
Constituency Korba under the Bharatmala project. Setting up of a medical college among the three parliamentary Constituencies is also a good scheme. SHRI RAM KUMAR SHARMA: This Budget has raised hopes and aspiration of the rural people after a long time that they can also lead a good and dignified life. There is a proposal in this Budget to convert small village haats and bazars into mandis to ensure remunerative price of the agricultural produce to the small and marginal farmers. About 22000 such village markets have been identified for this purpose in all the states. The scheme to ensure one and half times more prices than the input agri cost to the farmers is going to benefit the farmers. Job oriented higher education alone can create employment opportunity for the youth. Allocation of one lakh rupees in next four years to strengthen the higher education infrastructure is a welcome step. The Government has also taken several steps to strengthen women empowerment. The Government is also taking several steps to promote MSMEs and sufficient allocation has been provided in the budget for this purpose. Setting up of skill development centers in each district is a right step to enhance employability of our youths. I would like to invite the attention of the Government to my parliamentary Constituency and request to set up a new medical college in my Constituency out of the 19 new medical colleges proposed to be set up in the country.
SHRI MOHANBHAI KALYANJIBHAI KUNDARIYA: All the sections of the society such as farmers, the poor and the young entrepreneurs have been take care of and provisions have also been made for the development of other sectors in this budget. The people of Gujarat and Saurashtra have been demanding that AIIMS hospital should be set up in Gujarat so that the people of Saurashtra can be benefited. The Government is committed to double the income of farmers by 2022. The agriculture markets of the country are being made online so that farmers may get remunerative prices for their produce. The work on 99 irrigation projects pending for decades also being expedited. An ambitious scheme has been rolled out with the Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund of
Rs.11000 crore. Security cover has been provided to 5.75 crore farmers for their rabi and kharif crops under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in 2017.
SHRI ARKA KESHARI DEO: The Union Budget 2018-19 is in my opinion a 'Balanced Budget' in which the Finance Minister has given more weightage to the rural economy for its development. There are many ancient temples and natural habitat and waterfalls in my district which would attract a large number of tourists if a 'Tourist Circuit' may be developed at par with other tourist destinations in the country. As far as health sector is concerned, I suggest the
Government to open 'Satellite Health Service at Bhawanipatna' for the patients of my districts when experts' opinion is needed by doctors for critical operation. For all round development of my district i.e. Kalahandi, a special financial package may be given to develop the infrastructure, hospitals, roads, buildings, colleges, bridges, cold storage and godowns and expansion of railway lines and widening of
Highways, opening of nursing college and reviving of M/s Konark Ginning and Spinning Cotton Mills at Kesinga may be taken up during the current financial year.
SHRI Y. V. SUBBA REDDY: I congratulate the Government for presenting predominantly a people centric budget focused on the agrarian and the rural economy and even the sector like healthcare, agriculture, MSMEs, education and skill have been given priority. But the Union Budget 2018 has poured water on the assurances given to the Andhra Pradesh in the Reorganization Act by showing empty hands to the people of the State. There has been no mention on
Polavaram Project and its finances. Backward Rayalaseema was to get about Rs.
1,200 crore from the centre which was not addressed till now. There was no commitment on special status to AP. Even there was neither mention of setting up of separate Visakhapatnam Railway Zone as agreed by the central Government earlier nor any mention of allocation of funds to pending Railway projects like construction of Rail over Bridges in various districts of the state. The demand of setting up of Dugarajapatnam Port has also not been touched upon by the central
Government in its budget. Hence, I would urge upon the Government to fulfill the aspiration of the people of Andhra Pradesh by implementing the assurances made in the AP Reorganization Act.
SHRI KESINENI SRINIVAS: Our Hon'ble Finance Minister has willfully ignored Andhra Pradesh in this Budget. I regret to see that we have come to a point where an entire state has to resort to dharna, not to demand something new, but to simply obtain what it was promised by the Parliament in the Andhra Pradesh
State Reorganization Act, 2014. In the said Act, 19 promises such as special category status, bridging the resource gap, Plavaram project, establishment of a
Railway zone, financial assistance for Amaravati, Greenfield Crude refinery and petrochemical complex etc were made but the Government failed to deliver on these promises. This was the last complete budget by the Government and it too like the previous ones failed to deliver. Not even our single demand finds a mention in the budget.
SHRI K. ASHOK KUMAR: Tamil Nadu has been providing free supply of
20 kilogrammes of rice per month through the Public Distribution System to about
1.83 crore families in the State. Hence, I urge upon the Government to provide the same level of supply food grains like Rice and Wheat, Sugar and Kerosene to
Tamil Nadu without reducing the Quantity and Subsidy. The Union Government should support this good initiative. I urge the Union Government to provide a special Package for developemnt of Pharma Park in Hosur. This will provide revenue and job opportunities. I would also urge the Government to take steps to
Start Airport in Hosur soon. Another long pending Railway demand of the people of Krishnagiri Parliamentary Constituency is the establishing a Railway link between Jolarpettai and Krishnagiri. The work on National Highway 77 between
Krishnagiri and Tinidvanam is pending for a long time. This is very important road connectivity and therefore need to be provided with adequate funds and expedited.
DR. THOKCHOM MEINYA: While the Government of India is repealing a number of obsolete laws, I would like to request the Union Government to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958, because this is draconian law. I also request the Government for the development of infrastructures for
Sports, Culture and Tourism in my state. Classical language status for Manipuri language should be granted. More all-weather National Highways (NHs) - NH-2
& NH-37 should be given top priority. I also request early completion of National
Project - Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal Rail lines and dedicated in-built security arrangement for all National projects in the Northeast and also make Imphal
International Airport fully functional at International norms.
SHRI BHOLA SINGH: This Budget will give a fillip to the development of the country. A number of steps are proposed in the Budget to augment the income of the farmers. Launching a revamped National Bamboo Mission with a fund of Rs. 1290 crore with a view to promoting the bamboo sector is a welcome step of the Government in the interest of the farmers. There is a commendable step to provide free electricity connection to four crore poor families. The poor families have got the benefits through the schemes of Pradhan Mantri Jivan
Suraksha Bima Yojana with just Rs. 12 and Pradhan Mantri Jivan Jyoti Bima with just Rs. 330. It is my request that train as well as metro facility may be made available to commute from Bulandshahr to Delhi.
SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH: The Government has taken many praiseworthy steps for the development of the country, particularly for the welfare of the poor and the common man in the Budget for 2018-19. Shortcomings in the land records all over the country should be removed because crores of cases are pending in the courts for years due to this problem. The amount of labour and money which could be invested for the development of the country is lost in the courts unnecessarily. Thousands of people in my parliamentary Constituency of
Aurangabad, Bihar remain deprived of the benefits of various public welfare schemes as their names are not entered in the BPL list and the socio-economic- caste census (SECC) list. I would request that the names of such people should be added to the list on the recommendation of elected public representatives as a temporary arrangement. The production cost, on which the farmers are provided
1.5 times MSP, is shown very less in the official figures while the actual production cost of the farmers is much higher. Therefore, remunerative prices should be paid to the farmers instead of MSP. A number of public welfare schemes are not becoming popular among the majority of the people due to lack of awareness in the country. These schemes should be publicized through ASHA,
Sahayika, Vikas Mitra etc. alongwith banks and insurance companies to achieve 100 per cent implementation. Accountability and transparency should be ensured through regular monitoring of these schemes.
SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH: After a very long time, a budget helpful to villages, poor and farmers has been presented. The most important point is that an amount of Rs14 lakh crores have been allocated for the villages and the farm sector, which proves that the government has focused it towards the farmers and villages. More than 3 lakh km of road and more than 2 crore toilets are proposed to be constructed which is directly going to benefit the downtrodden and the poor people. Our government's target is to construct 50 lakh houses to provide a permanent shelter to all the poor people by 2022, which is a big decision. Our
Government has provided for a tax rebate for five years to the FPO in the agriculture sector. Ten crore poor people would get the benefit of the health insurance scheme under the Aayushman Yojana. My request is that the hospitals to be earmarked should be on the basis of the region and the states. Our
Government has provided for a medical college in every third parliamentary constituency, which is a revolutionary decision. My constituency lies between
Jabalpur and Bhopal, which has no medical college. There is no medical college within the radius of 300 kms. Hence, a medical college may be set up either in the
Narshingpur or Hoshangabad district. Providing digital board instead of black board is a big step in the field of education. Rs. 63,836 crores have been allocated for agriculture sector which proves that our government intends to help the farmers but the APMC Act need to be reviewed. The Government has also taken a major decision to provide 1.5 times of the cost as MSP as the current MSP is not sufficient. In the field of sugarcane farming, there is a provision to set up a sugar factory in the vicinity of 10 km which should be reduced to 5 km. The
Government has tried to reach up to the senior citizens, the widows, the orphans and the deprived sections of the society. A provision of Rs. 10 thousand crore has been made under the National Social Assistance Programme in this Budget. I request that the old age pension should at least be Rs. 500 as Rs.300 is a very paltry sum which does not help these poor people . The minimum honorarium to the Anganwadi workers needs to be enhanced. The Narsingpur-Honsangabad NH has been announced and I hope that some amount would soon be allocated for this purpose. The roads are proposed to be interconnected with the institutions of higher education and hospitals, which is a welcome step. So far as railway is concerned, I suggest that wherever a train runs empty the tariff should be reduced and people should be encouraged to use it. The stoppage policy in the Railway has to be evaluated in respective zones with the help of people's representatives.
SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA: All the States, including my State of
Odisha are going to be poorer together by Rs. 12,000 crore. The Government has cut the Excise Duty on petrol and diesel by Rs. 2 per litre but has increased the road cess. This has deprived the States of their right to have 42 per cent of divisible pool of that Rs. 2. I would urge upon the hon. Finance Minister to rollback this particular scheme. The Government of Odisha has evolved a mechanism to increase the farmers' income by 104 per cent, whereas the corresponding figure in the entire country is just 34 per cent. The Union
Government intends to increase farmers' income by 2022 by 100 per cent. It is a good thing that they have learnt it from Odisha and they want to implement it throughout the country. The Government has come up with the world's largest public funded health scheme by providing a policy of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year to cover 10 crore families. But there is no budgetary provision. It will require nothing less than Rs. 60,000 crore to Rs. 1,00,000 crore. Health Sector has seen a meagre increase of 2.5 per cent. I will urge upon the hon. Minister to take care of
ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and the National Health Mission workers. I would urge upon the Government to set up all India Institute of Medical Sciences in my Balasore Constituency which was approved five years back and the State
Government has already given land and other facilities.
SHRI LAKHAN LAL SAHU: This Budget stands for fulfilling the resolution of a 'New India' for the country. Rice is the main crop of Chhattisgarh.
The State Government procures every single grain of paddy. Our Government has given bonus to 13 lakh farmers at the rate of Rs.300 per quintal. 'Skill India' is a flagship programme of the Central Government. Our State Government has made efforts to promote youth through Livelihood College in each district in
Chhattisgarh. The people of Chhattisgarh desire that Chhattisgarhi should be granted the status of official language. I demand to convert the airport situated in the capital Raipur into an international airport. Railway Tribunal and a medical college should be set up in Bilaspur. There is an urgent need to set up a Kendriya
Vidyalaya in district Mungeli in my Constituency.
DR. MAMTAZ SANGHAMITA: GDP growth rate is coming down year by year with some wrong laws and policies. The Central Government is weakening PSUs including Air India. Demonetisation has ruined small scale business. Wrong policies on export import have also disrupted income from exports. This budget is very meagre in case of major public services like health and education. How can this budget fulfill the aim of free healthcare, new medical colleges etc.? For employment generation, there are several programs like skill development etc., but budget allocations for these are minimum or static. Foreign investment is hampered and people are afraid in making business transaction in
India. For this reason leather industry and allied business is decreasing. Bengal was No. 1 or 2 in leather business and this is coming down and creating further unemployment. For village employment, there is no increased allocation for
MGNREGA. Bengal is totally deprived in this year's budget. This budget is more for the corporates and big businessmen not for common man.
SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN: I would like to know from the hon.
Finance Minister whether the Budget proposals for the year 2018-19 are sufficient to address the concerns expressed in the Economic Survey of 2018. Agricultural production is coming down and it is in a declining trend. The Economic Survey says that 20 to 25 per cent of farm income loss will be there because of climate change. There is nothing to address the issue of climate change. Coming to unemployment, it is increasing from 4.9 per cent to 5 per cent. There is only PF contribution exemption. Another one is Mudra loans. There is nothing else other than these two to address unemployment. My third point is about the crude oil price. In the current financial year, there is a 14 per cent increase in the global price of crude oil. That will be directly leading to inflation. Coming to education, the quality of education has to be addressed. There is a marginal increase of 6.68 per cent in the budget. The Government has miserably failed in maintaining the fiscal consolidation as envisaged in the Budget Estimates. Regarding the GDP, the nature of development is jobless growth in all the four years of NDA Government.
Eight rupees has been imposed as the cess and an Excise Duty of rupees two has been removed. There is no impact on the consumer. The impact is on the States.
My State is going to lose Rs. 252 crore. Lastly, regarding the cashew industry in
Kerala, 2.5 per cent was the customs duty on import of raw cashew nut. I urge upon the Government to withdraw it. In my constituency, some medium industrialists have committed suicide because the industry is facing crisis.
DR. KIRIT P. SOLANKI: I would like to thank the Finance Minister, Shri
Arun Jaitley ji, for this farmer-friendly, common-citizen friendly and business environment-friendly Budget for the financial year 2018-19. This Government's sound understanding of the needs of the Indian economy. With the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax(GST), it has been seen that there has been a 50 per cent increase in unique indirect taxpayers under the GST compared with the pre-
GST system. It has been acknowledged that only a Swasthya Bharat can lead to the fulfillment of India's economic and social objectives. In realization of this fact, the government has created the world's largest public health programme that is expected to cover 40% of India's population. As a part of this, the allocation for the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana has been increased by 325%. It is understood that an improvement in the health sector must be linked to proper sanitation and infrastructure development. To achieve this, the Government has indentified 115 districts for improvement of quality of life as well as announced the setting up of 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres. Government's budget allocation for the agriculture ministry has been increased by 13 per cent. Across all agricultural schemes and programs, the government has increased allocations.
To achieve the objective of doubling farmers' income by 2022, the Government has ensured a 1.5 times increase in the Minimum Support Price of Kharif crops. A Rs.
500 crore 'Operation Green' has been announced to address price volatility of perishable commodities like potato, tomato and onion and benefit both producers and consumers. The government has announced that Rs. 14.3 lakh crore will be spent on livelihood and infrastructure in rural areas. This Government has increased the budgetary allocation for the welfare of women by 4%, the welfare of children by 10.1%, the welfare of scheduled castes by 7.4% and the welfare of scheduled tribes by 20.4%.
SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK: I congratulate the Minister of Finance for this Budget. This Budget will strengthen the foundation of New India. Focus has been given to Agriculture and infrastructure of this country. This Budget is farmer friendly, common man friendly, business environment friendly and development friendly also. Focus has also been given to Ease of doing business and Ease of living. Record allocation has been made for the villages and agricultural sector which is about Rs. 14.5 lakh crores. "Operation Green" would be very effective for farmers. Now village markets, higher education centres and hospitals will be connected under Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana. Aayushman Bharat
Yojana will proved to be a boon for poor and middle class people in regard to treatment during illness. It would be easy for youth to get admission in 24 Medical colleges to be established in all over the country.
SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY: The Budget 2018-19 is the best and quite different from other Governments. This Budget has presented a layout of
Ease of doing business and Ease of living with the help of last four years golden financial journey. It is really a milestone by coverage of 8 crore families under
"Ujjwala Yojana" and by extending Health Insurance Scheme of Rs. 5 lakh to 10 crore families under Aayushman Bharat. This Budget has enthused a new energy amongst the farmers by raising the MSP. Minister of Finance has given a new high to the capital expenditure in sector of infrastructure. Long term Capital Gain
Tax has been raised upto 10 per cent.
SHRI DADDAN MISHRA: This Budget is the one which will strengthen
India and accelerate the development of the country. This Budget will fulfil the aspirations of each class of the country. Villages, the poor and the farmers have been the focal points of this Budget. The farmers are having fertile lands but due to lack of knowledge about the soil of their land, they use fertilizers recklessly. As such, the fertility of lands has been declining and production has been coming down gradually. Therefore, the government has introduced an ambitious Soil
Health Card Scheme under which it has been provided that the soil health of every land will be enquired into and soil health card will be made available to every farmer. There are many areas in my Parliamentary constituency, where the farmers are compelled to carry out cultivation, leaving everything on God's grace despite having fertile lands. This Government has targeted to ensure water for every land. I would like to express my gratitude to the Government for bringing the Sarayu Canal Project under the Central Project with a target to carry out work thereon expeditiously. The Government has decided to evolve 22 thousand rural haats into rural agricultural markets. I think that the farmers will be relieved from exploitation through this Scheme and the influence of intermediaries will end.
SHRI TARIQ ANWAR: This Budget is quite disappointing. The farmers were hopeful that this government would relieve them from the burden of loans. However, efforts have been made once again to give false assurance to the farmers. No concrete measures has been mentioned in this Budget to ensure employment to the unemployed youth. Lakhs of unemployed youth have become all the more victims of unemployment due to demonetization. A large number of small and medium industries have closed down. If the Government has in fact sympathy with the women of the country, it should get the pending Bill for reservation in Lok Sabha and State legislative assemblies passed in the Lok Sabha.
Communal and social harmony has been becoming a large challenge in the country as of now. I would like to urge upon the government to get the RBHM jute mills,
Katihar restarted and to give required directions for ensuring the payment of the outstanding dues of its workers. There is an urgent need to carry out renovation and modernization of the Barsoi Railway Station. This work may be included in the Railway Budget 2016-17 on a top priority basis. The construction work of about 57 km long railway line from Kursela to Bihariganj may be started urgently.
A railway construction factory near Gaushala in Katihar city may be set up.
Doubling of railway line between Katihar-Kumedpur and Katihar-Mukuria may be carried out. The 15227/15228 Muzaffarpur-Yashwantpur Express train may be run thrice a week. DMU trains may be introduced from Katihar to Radhikapur via
Kumedpur and Katihar to New Jalpaigudi via Sonauli. 15483/15484 Mahananda
Express train be given stoppage at Pranpur Road and at Khurial Station. Stoppage of 15609/15610 Awadh-Assam Express train may be given at Sudhani and Telta Stations. Special Train No. 08631/08632 from Katihar to Ranchi may be run on regular basis and it should be made to run thrice in a week. 15001/15002
Muzaffarpur-Dehradun Rapti Sagar Express train may be run from/upto Katihar.
15203/15204 Barauni-Lucknow and 12553/12554 Vaishali Express Train and
12551/12552 Barauni-Ernakulam Express Train may be run from/upto Katihar as before. 12753/12754 New Jalpaigudi-Chennai Express Train may be run via
Katihar. 15712/15713 Katihar-Howrah Express train may be run daily. Train No.
15611/15612 Kamakhya-Mumbai Karmbhoomi Express be given stoppage at
Barsoi station. Stoppage of the train No. 15715/15716 (Garib Nawaz Express) be given at Akbarpur which is the nearby station of Kachhauchha Sharif - A famous pilgrimage of the minority community of Seemanchal. The Malda-Surat Express
13425/13426 and Malda-Digha Express 13417/13418 be run from/upto Katihar.
SHRI BHAGWANT MANN: Manifesto of every political party should be recorded document. These documents should be monitored by the Election
Commission. Nothing has been mentioned in the budget about Chit Fund
Companies. Chit Fund companies are fleecing people in the country. A company called Pearl collected crores of rupees from people in Punjab and vanished.
Nothing has been mentioned about the farmers in the budget. We were hopeful that
Punjab would get something, because it contributes maximum cereals in the
Central Pool. If 16 kilometer long stretch of railway line from Saneta to Rajpura is constructed, then link from Ganganagar to Malwa railway link would get connected with Chandigarh. Chandigarh and Amritsar airports should be made full fledged international airports.
DR. YASHWANT SINGH: The present Government is following the path of Antyodaya as suggested by Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay ji. The present budget as well as all the schemes of the Government are poor centric. The Government has allocated 9975 crore rupees under National Social Assistance Programme. The new
National Health Security Scheme will provide annual coverage of Rs. 5 lakh to10 crore families for treatment in secondary and tertiary hospitals. The monthly assistance of Rs. 500 for nutritional support along with treatment is a big step. The announcement by the Prime Minister to double the income of farmers by the year
2022 is big goal. The existing 22000 Gramin Hatts are to be developed into Rural
Agriculture Market and for this a provision of Rs. 2000 crore has been made. The institutional loan amount for agriculture sector has been increased from Rs.10 lakh crore to Rs.11 lakh crore. The present budget shows that the Government is concerned about the livelihood and health of the poor, and education of their children.
SHRI V. ELUMALAI: I express my hearty gratitude and indebtedness to our beloved immortal Leader Puratchi Thalaivi AMMA. Tamil Nadu is one of the most productive states in the country to utilize properly the rural employment scheme. Tamil Nadu needs more financial support for this programme. The skill training is successful in Tamil Nadu. Youth Power is the future poewr of the nation and is our greatest strength. The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana to train one crore youth is commendable. This need generous funding and institutional support to generate employment opportunities for the educated youth of this country. The
Government aim to create an education, healthy and clean India. Our beloved leader Puratchi Talaivi AMMA has focused exclusively for the development of
Education in the State and has been taking far sighted initiatives for the welfare of students in state. Union Government to should replicate all over India, the schemes implemented in Tamil Nadu. Puratchi Thalaivi AMMA has been a forerunner for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, Sukanya Samridhi Yojana. The Pradhan
Mantri Surakshit Matritav Abhiyan. AMMA had ordered for pregnant women can avail 9 months maternity leave with salary. I urge the Government to provide substantial amount for the speedy completion of the new railway line between
Tindivanam-nagari, Tindivanam-Tiruvannamalai railway project. In NH-77 between Tindivanam to Krishnagiri via Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvannamalai-
Tindivanam section is in very bad condition. AMMA fought in and out of retrieve
Katchatheevu islands back. Government should take appropriate steps to get back
Katchatheevu island. Government should pay more attention to improve the airport infrastructure in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu requires more financial support from
Government for the software exports project sector. There is not much substantial for the productive States like Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra and will not fulfill the hopes and expectations of Middle class. SHRI AJAY MISRA TENI: This Government belongs to poor. We have continuously worked for welfare of poor, empowerment of women, to increase the income of farmers, to make available roads, schools, hospitals, electricity, water etc. to provide employment to people, to provide money in the hands of people, to preserve dignity and safety and our party has started working keeping in mind all as we mentioned objectives. Our objective would not be fulfilled unless we provide all the facilities like food, clothes, shelter, school and hospitals to the poorest of the poor. The things have improved during last four years. Many schemes have been included in the budget for the welfare of poor. Provisions have been included in the budget for empowerment of women, to provide at 1.5 time price over and about the cost of crop to farmers. Government has initiated big ticket reforms during last four years, may it be GST, demonetization, finance bill 2017, bankruptcy code or strengthening the banks by reducing NPS. We have kept the interest of poor at priority. In my constituency, Lakhimpur Kheri work worth rupees several thousand crores have been done during last three and half years. We have taken pledge to build a new India.
SHRI RAKESH SINGH: We took the pledge for shaping new India under the able-leadership of Prime Minister and the present Budget is a flying leap in this direction. The announcement of ambitious schemes like Ayushman Bhav,
JanDhan, and Saubhagaya etc is a revolutionary step. The effectiveness of demoentization can be judged by the fact that nearly three lakh dubious companies were identified and the registration of 2 lakhs and 1000 thousands out of these identified companies has already been cancelled. The subscribers who monthly pay in Employees Provident Fund Organisation have increased upto 4 crore and 80 lakhs. The process of Aadhar card enrollment was accelerated and nearly 130 crore people have got Aadhar. It helps the government to control the rampant corruption. The government through the Aadhar has successfully identified fake ration cards, fake LPG connections and ghost teachers. The government has saved millions of rupees by eliminating this corruption. The government, in this budget, has resolved to take benefits of the available financial and natural resources to the last person of the society. Aadhar system seems proving to be a milestone in this direction. Honourable Prime Minister is himself monitoring the major schemes having important role in the development of the country thorough PRAGATI. The government is laying special focus on the development of rural India and it is evident from the fact that 76 thousand Panchayats were connected through optical fiber during the tenure of this government. The government is committed to connect all the villages with optical fiber by the year 2022- the year when country is going to complete 75 years of independence. The government has successfully mobilise financial resources with the implementation of demonetization and strict anti-corruption moves. The number of taxpayers in the country has increased up to
6.3 crores from 3.7 crores in the preceding years..The common man as well as many experts have began to accept that fundamentals of the Indian economy are strong.
DR. KULMANI SAMAL: The Government though in late has realized the pain and anguish of farmers all over the country. That's why the minimum support price of all crops has been increased to atleast 1.5 times. But how far it would be implemented the time will tell that. It is good to see increasing allocation of funds for various schemes meant for welfare of farmers but real intention could be fulfilled by way of implementation of such declared schemes. My suggestion is if the government wants with heart to help the farmers, it should create the infrastructure, reduce the role of middlemen and procure the produce directly from them ensuring their economic development. Secondly, I would like to emphasise upon the unrealistic health scheme of the Government as it has announced in the
Budget. It sounds musical to ears because there is no fund allocation mentioned in the budget to support this huge plan. My request to the Government is to kindly increase allocation of funds in respect of Railways in Odisha. I request the
Government to allot for setting up of one Medical College and Hospital in South
Western part of Odisha. Paradip is a major port city. Hence, it is pertinent to consider for setting up of a Super Specialty Hospital in Paradip at par with the level of its reputation as a major port city.
SHRI DUSHYANT CHAUTALA: I thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on budget 2018-19. A reduction of 0.02 percent has been made in the allocation for farmers in this budget, making the total allocation 2.36 percent. A provision of 11 lakh crore rupees has been made for Kisan Credit Card in this budget against 10 lakh crore rupees of provision made during the previous financial year. 55 thousand crore rupees have been allocated under MGNREGS.
The government will not be able to even pay the outstanding amount under the said scheme with this allocation. If the government intends to make full payment to each labourer then it should have made a provision of atleast 82 thousand crore rupees for MGNREGS. The government has talked of relief for the tax payers. If we make a calculation about the entire scheme then the government has raised the three percent cess to four percent and has given a benefit of merely one thousand and thirty two rupees to the category that falls in the five lakh bracket. As far as health care is concerned the government has introduced a scheme for making healthcare accessible to each individual. But are CT scan machines, MBBS doctors available in all the government hospitals? The government has allocated 85 thousand crore rupees for education. Will we be able to make the primary schools innovative with this amount? The previous governments had installed computers in government schools but when there is no electricity in schools during the daytime, how would the children make use of computers for learning? Budget provision for
UGC has been reduced by 200 crore rupees. The government is claiming credit for promoting sports. Not a single rupee has been allocated for sports talent hunt this time. SHRI HARISCHANDRA CHAVAN: The budget presented by the
Finance Minister for the year 2018-19 is the one which will rid the country of several problems and bring prosperity for the farmers. This is a budget for giving relief to the women this way it is a future oriented budget which will provide optimum impetus to the economy. The government has made announcement for providing 50% additional profit in excess of the cost of production to the farmers.
The government has made provision for increasing the number of cold storages and expanding the food processing industry. I come from Nasik district which is the biggest onion producing district in Asia. In view of the large scale production of onion in Nasik there is a need to open cold storages and expand onion based food processing industries in the district. The government should also bring in an export policy for promoting grape and pomegranate based industries. 82% of villages in the country have been provided road connectivity. This government has also taken steps to increase and make affordable rail transport services in the country. The government also proposes to increase the number of airports in the country by five times and even smaller cities are being brought into air service network. This way connectivity is being boosted in the country. Even today the farmer is dependent upon rain water to irrigate his farm. The irrigation facilities in the country have to be expanded. Several irrigation projects in the country have been running behind schedule by many years. There is a need to review and pay particular attention towards the irrigation work. The pending irrigation projects in my parliamentary constituency should be completed.
DR. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY: I express my gratitude for permitting me to speak on this development oriented budget. I stand in support of this budget which is devoted towards making a benevolent state. We have surrendered ourselves to the concept of service for the country where service to the poor is the service of God. This budget has taken a bold decision by making a promise to provide the farmers one and a half times the cost price of the input. This was the gist of the Swaminathan Committee report. Our government has taken a bold decision to provide an annual insurance of rupees 5 lakh to every family. This is a budget to provide the standard of living of the poor. I wholeheartedly support this budget.
SHRI BAHADUR SINGH KOLI: It is a balanced budget. It has kept in mind all the sections of society. After independence, it is the first budget which took care of the rural areas, agricultural sector and the farmers. A bold step has been taken in this budget to bear the medical expenses of 40% population. Special
Emphasis will be given on education from nursery upto class 12. There would be smart boards instead of black boards in classes and 24 new medical colleges will be set up. A Railway University will be set up in Vadodara. By expanding Ujjwala
Yojana 8 crore LPG connections will be given. Under Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana, the government wants to provide houses to all the poor by the year 2022. Two crore toilets will be constructed across the country. Under SAUBHAGYA scheme, 4 crore electricity connections will be provided in rural areas. Under
MUDRA scheme 5.50 crore jobs have been created. With the reduction in corporate tax, relief has been provided to small companies. There is a proposal to increase the allocation by rupees 505 crore regarding minority affairs. There is a program to increase the present number of Airports by five times. Growth rate will certainly increase with this budget.
SHRI P. NAGARAJAN: The total income expected is pegged at about Rs.
24 Lakh crores in the Budget. The total debts and other liabilities of the
Government expected is about 90 lakh crores by the end of financial year. The
Government is requested to provide rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene to Tamil Nadu without reducing the quantity and subsidy. The Government should implement new project to provide job opportunities for millions of textile workers in the country to earn their livelihood. The Amma Canteen scheme which provides food for all need to be implemented throughout the country. Textiles, Automobiles,
Electronics and Electricals, IT and ITES in Coimbatore needs greater attention.
Textile Park and Small Scale Industries will provide revenue and job opportunities and rejuvenate the sick textile mills. There is a long pending demand for the expansion of the Coimbatore airport. The NH connectivity Coimbatore and
Mettupalayam and Coonoor requires generous funding for expansion works. The
Coimbatore to Sathyamangalam National Highway needs to widen. There is an urgent need to construct and establish a Metro Train System in Coimbatore city for the benefit of millions of people working in small scale sector and industries in and around Coimbatore.
SHRI VIJAY KUMAR HANSDAK: The Union Budget is misleading because the way demonetization and GST have been introduced, many changes have been done in their implementation. People are confused. The poor farmer, labourers, unemployed, businessmen, service person, married women, the middle class are not able to understand the budget. GST has been unstable since its introduction and that is why several changes have been made and consequently the tax payers are confused and alongwith that the economic situation of the country has become unstable and every state has incurred losses which need to be compensated by the Union Government. Even the Central collection has also decreased. The employment opportunities in the country have come down. The
National Clean Energy fund has been constituted and collection has been made but expenditure is not being made on that ground. The Government says that it has surplus energy but there are as many as four crores of households that are deprived of electricity.
The income of the farmers which would be doubled by the year 2022 needs to be explained on year to year basis. The Government is cheating the youth of the country in the name of employment. The middle class families have been ignored in the budget. The cost of education, health, petrol and diesel and everything is going upward and it has become difficult for the middle class families to survive.
I urge upon the Government to build one more Kendriya Vidyalaya in
Sahebganj and Pakur of my Parliamentary Constituency so that the education rate can be increased. The construction of bridge on Ganga between Sahebgani to
Manihari for which land was also acquired has become only an election agenda. I wish that construction work should be started there.
SHRI C. N. JAYADEVAN: The current budget has been presented at time when the economic growth in the country is very bad. The economic growth has been very low, the agriculture sector is in deep crisis and the unemployment problem is hurting the feeling of the youth as never before. How this Government propose to increase the expenditure this year which is an important factor in generating employment opportunities and public demand. The plan outlays for different sectors such as rural development, health, education and social welfare witnessing lack of increase as compared to previous years. The total Budget of the
Health Ministry stands at Rs. 56,226 crore. The National Health Policy 2017 indicated an increase to 2.5 per cent of GDP.
SHRIMATI KAVITHA KALVAKUNTLA: Whatever has been promised in the A.P. Reorganisation Act has to be honoured. This effectively is the last budget of this Government. Entire nation was looking up to this budget. The farmers are very much disappointed with this budget. There is nothing for the farmers. This Government has done commendable job to facilitate business. India has gone 41 ranks up in International Arena. 31 Bills have been passed during the last 4 years to ease doing of business. But only two bills related to the agriculture have been passed during the last 4 years. The Pesticide Management Bill to replace the Insecticide Act 1968 is still pending. The NABARD Bill, the Seeds Bill and
Coal Storage Order Bill are pending. Unless all these policies are formulated how the income of farmers would be doubled. We supported GST and Demonetization policy of the Government. During the Congress Regime, the domestic production of fertilizers was never increased. This is an important issue for farmers. Only 3 companies import fertilizers from abroad. We should increase the production of fertilizers in the country. The subsidy provided to the companies should be diverted to farmers. Only 51 per cent area of cultivable land is equipped with irrigation facility. Government has provided only Rs. 35 thousand crores in the budget for irrigation facility. If we wish to double the income of farmers provision for the irrigation should be made. We are working on a big project called
Kaleshwaram project and we need support to complete it. We need to support micro irrigation. The Central Government provide only 35 percent subsidy on it but our state provides 100 per cent subsidy to SC and ST for micro irrigation. We should consider farmer as a unit for insurance. MNREGA should be included with farming. I request the Government to give MSP to all the crops. It will be a revolutionary move. SHRI RAM CHARAN BOHRA: The Government has estimated the total expenditure of rupees 24.4 lakh crore in the budget for the year 2018-19. The
Government has given top priority to our farmers in this budget. The focus in this budget is on the ambitious plan of doubling the income of the farmers by the year
2022. The Government has announced an increase in the loan to farmers this year and made it 11 lakh crore. Defence expenditure has been estimated as rupees
2,95,511 crore. The Government has decided to provide scholarship of rupees one lakh to phd students to promote research. We have made the target of rupees 3 lakh crore under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. The Government has formulated many women safety schemes under the Nirbhaya fund for women empowerment.
Centre of Excellence and Research Project of Rajasthan University should have projects like Foreign Policy and International Studies and it should be provided oriental budget for the same. SMS Hospital, Jaipur should be upgraded to All India
Institute of Medical Sciences. Budget should be given to develop all the parks of
Jaipur. Delhi -Alwar CNG gas pipeline should be extended up to Jaipur so as to develop the Smart City project. High speed train should be introduced from Jaipur to Delhi. Direct train from Jaipur to Shirdi should be introduced. Delhi-Agra-Jaipur
Golden Corridor should be developed. Jaipur should be connected with Ramgarh
Dam Kalak dam and Chambal. Handloom , carpet and jawaharat industries are traditional industries of Jaipur which should be provided special package. SHRI OM BIRLA: After noticing decrease in arable land and reduced contribution of agriculture in GDP of the country, the budget of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare has been increased to Rs. 63836 crore (around 1
2.8 %) for 2018-19 against Rs. 51026 crore for 2017-18. The outlay for Fasal Bima has been increased to Rs. 105698 crore from Rs. 13000 crore and the budget increase to Rs. 4000 crore from Rs. 3000 crore is proposed. Various steps have been taken to augment organic farming. The amount being provided to food processing sector has also been increased to Rs 1400 crore from Rs. 715 crore.
Defence expenditure of Rs. 295511 crore has been proposed and defence budget has been increased buy more than 6%. On an average, 133 kms. road has been built per day under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in 2017-18 against only 73 kms. in 2011-14. Strengthening of one lakh Panchayats under Digital India
Programme has been initiated. Various sports schemes have been launched in this budget. The Government has increased the education budget by 3.83%. Rs. 267 crore has been allocated to Mahila Shakti Kendras for the security and empowerment of women. Ayushmaan Bharat Yojana has been announced to give insurance cover of rupees 5 lakh to 10 crore poor families. GST has been implemented in National interest.
SHRI LALLU SINGH: Farmers will immensely benefit with the initiation of cluster model of agriculture and introduction of 22000 Gramin Haat Vikray
Kendras. RISE programme will give a new direction to the country after re- formation of basic infrastructure of education. Bharat Net project will transform villages into global villages. Government has doubled its focus on Digital India.
Government has decided to develop 56 new airports in the country and one among them will be set up in Faizabad. I urge upon the government to develop one airport at Faizabad. Government also introduced Ayushmann scheme. It will benefit 50 crore people of 10 crore families. Employment on local basis will increase by promoting tourism. Eklavya model of residential schools have been envisaged for tribal people. A provision of rupees 8 crore has been made in the budget for
Ujjwala Yojana for giving free gas connections to poor families .
SHRI BHANU PRATAP SINGH VERMA: More than 3 crore and thirty lakh gas connections have been provided under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
Under the said scheme 67000 gas connections have been provided in my constituency Jalaun Garautha. We have provided pucca houses to 15.57 lakh people under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and up to March 2019 1 crore families are proposed to be benefited by this scheme. Modi government is committed to doubling the income of farmers by 2022. Ninety nine irrigation projects will be restored which are lying pending for decades. Besides, the budget of rupees 1300 crore has been proposed under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana for this year under the said scheme. A 4 thousand ton capacity cold storage has been built in my Jalaun Garautha Bhoginipur constituency. In addition, small and medium traders are to be benefited in their trades under MUDRA Yojana of rupees 600 crore. NDA’s dream to provide electricity under Deen Dayal Gram Jyoti Yojana and SAUBHAGYA Yojana with the budget of 3800 crore and 2640 crore respectively will be fulfilled soon. I demand that a new train between Jhansi and
New Delhi via Kanpur should be introduced. I also demand that a new rail line connecting koch railway station of North Central Railway Jhansi division to
Dibikapur via Jalaun Kuthor should be introduced in this budget.
SHRI PREM DAS RAI: Organic farming has been recognised in this budget as a major thrust area for the government. In the speaker’s research initiative a talk by experts including the Hon. Governor of Himachal Pradesh, presented in front of the Hon. Members of Parliament pointed out the way in which organic farming can actually bring about doubling the income of farmers. If organic farming is taken up, the need of fertilizers will actually go down. Organic farming is not only good for farmers but it is also good for our health and also for climate change. I would like to draw your attention to the budget allocations on dairy and livelihoods and dovetailing it with MNREGA. Dairy is an essential requirement of mixed farming. This can be a game changer. If we take the definition of bamboo instead of grass this will also help in the area of Climate
Change. Doklam conflict has shown the underbelly of our infrastructure in areas like Sikkim where the road is so small that even big guns cannot be taken upto
Nathula. We need to make sure that these strategic roads are widened. SHRI D.K. SURESH: I would like to say that the union budget is anti poor and anti farmer and anti people. The budget address is a very important issue that affects almost all. But the budget clearly fails to show where the money will come from. There is no clarity on how the NDA government plans to give 50% return over production cost of farmers. NDA government’s goal of doubling farmers income by 2022 seems a distant reality. Union Government has not taken any steps to waive the farm loan of poor farmers taken from the Nationalised banks. The
‘more crop per drop’ slogan remains an unfulfilled promise. Karnataka has submitted a districtwise action plan but there has been virtually no action. Housing for all by 2022 remains another farfetched idea. Midday Meal workers, ASHA and
Anganwadi workers have been marginaliged for a long time now. MNREGA minimum wages has to be raised. Karnataka has not received the payment due for the man hours involved. I have requested for an AIIMS like institution and so has the Government of Karnataka. However, no steps have been taken in Karnataka.
The Mahadayi water sharing with Goa is unresolved. The Byraangala lake in
Ramanagaram district is also another burning issue. Urgent funds are required to clean up this lake. In Anakel Taluk several RRB/RUBs need to be constructed.
Kengeri-Kanakpura-Chamarajnagar rail line is progressing very slowly due to lack of funds.
SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA: It is a village and poor people oriented budget. It aims at doubling the income of farmers. Increasing the minimum support price by one and a half times is indeed laudable. Operation
Green has been introduced to check the fall in the prices of tomato, potato and onion. A sum of Rs.10,000 crore has been provided for animal husbandry and this would surely benefit the farmers of my parliamentary Constituency Bundelkhand.
I take this opportunity to request the Hon. Minister to kindly constitute a
Development Authority for Bundelkhand region and also provide a special package for this area.
SHRI RAJU SHETTY: We were hopeful that Hon'ble Minister of Finance will introduce loan waiver scheme but it did not happen. There is nothing for farmers in the Budget. Finance Minister has tried to promote food processing industry and a sum of Rs. 1400 crore has been allocated for the same. 42 mega food parks are to be set up but the allotted sum is insufficient for them. In this way each State will not get Rs. 100 crore in its share. Rs. 2600 crore has been allocated for irrigation sector but this amount is inadequate to construct a canal. NABARD has constructed warehouses for last three years and subsidy to these warehouses has been stopped. Therefore, more funds were needed to be allocated to warehouses and cold storage. It has been mentioned to give A2+FL and 50 per cent profit to farmers, but MSP for Rabi crops is fixed at Rs. 1735. If we calculate
A2+FL and fifty per cent, it will be Rs. 1225. Earlier also farmers used to get
A2+FL and 50 per cent. Allocation of FCI is reduced by one lakh crore rupees.
Amount of arrears of FCI has reached to Rs. 81000 crore. Budget does not safeguard the interest of the farmers. The Government should reduce the burden of debt on the farmers. Nowadays, farmers are committing suicide for a debt of Rs.
30 to 35 thousand.
SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO: Budget 2018-19 is dedicated to all round development of every Indian. Rs. 14.34 lakh crore have been allocated to strengthen infrastructure in villages. A target has been fixed to provide broadband service in 5 lakh villages. 115 districts of the country are proposed to be developed as model districts. We have targeted to provide electricity to every household by the year 2022. The Budget for railways has been increased from Rs.
20,000 crore to Rs.1.48 lakh crore vis-a-vis last year. A target has been fixed for the renewal of 3600 kilometer railway track and electrification of 4000 kilometer of the railway stretch. The Government has taken a historical decision to raise the
MSP one and a half times which is an important step in achieving the target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022. "Operation Green" has been launched.
Rs. 2000 crore for development of rural markets, Rs. 1400 crore for food processing and Rs. 1290 for National Bamboo Mission have been allocated.
Hon'ble Prime Minister has presented a new concept 'Ayushmaan Bharat' in the country. The Government has envisaged health insurance of Five Lakh Rupees for around 10 crore poor families. There is a provision to open 24 new medical colleges in this budget. A new medical college will be opened in every three parliamentary constituencies by 2022. There is a provision to open an Eklavya Vidyalaya Model Residential School in every tribal area by 2022. The existing number of airports will be increased by about five times from the present 124 and the common man of the country will be connected with it through 'Udaan' scheme.
Rs. 2600 crore have been allocated separately for ground water irrigation. Rs.
7150 crore have been earmarked for textile sector welfare. Mudra Yojana will facilitate job creation. Rs. 56619 crore for SC welfare and Rs. 39135 crore for ST welfare have been earmarked. Restricting fiscal deficit during 2018-19 to 3.3% will help to boost economy. Budget 2018-19 will facilitate to materialise the concept of "Nav Bharat". This Budget will prove a milestone in the development of the country.
SHRIMATI V. SATHYABAMA: The Hon'ble Finance Minister has taken a surgeon's precision while distributing the funds to the various innovative projects to all the 29 States and UTs in the country. It is a great responsibility of the Union
Government to provide adequate budgetary support to both developed and under developed States. I request the Government that while serving the under privileged
States the productive States should not be deprived as in the case of Tamil Nadu.
This needs to be addressed by the Union Government. I urge the Union
Government to provide Tamil Nadu its due share in proportion to its contribution to the central Exchequer. Tamil Nadu should be given priority in defence production projects. The redevelopment of 600 railway stations and renovation of over 3600km railway track in current year is a good decision. The prestigious units like Salem Steel Plant should not be disinvested at any point of time. The IT and ITES gap between cities and rural India need to narrowed. As far as the
Health sector is concerned, the allocation for nutritional support to all TB patients should have been more than Rs. 600 crore. There is an urgent need to create a comprehensive Special package for the industries of Tirupur. I urge the
Government to allocate Rs 10,000 crore for this Special Purpose Vehicle for the benefit of millions of people in this Kongu region. I urge the Government to announce immediately the setting up of AIIMS in Perundurai in Erode District.
SHRI SUNIL KUMAR JAKHAR: The development that has taken place during last three years has reached only to one percent of people. Today our social fabric is in danger. Efforts are being made to re-write the history. History has been written by our martyrs and by our patriots by supreme sacrifice and this cannot be wiped out. I would like to ask the Hon. Minister of Finance that he has not mentioned the debt of farmers in his speech. 36 thousand farmers have committed suicide during last three years. Nobody bothers farmers because they are not getting prices of their produce. Freight equalization subsidy which was given earlier has been withdrawn.
SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY: This is a very sensitive budget which is close to the hearts of villagers, farmers and poor. A new direction is set for
Indian economy after country's independence. Finance Minister has presented such a budget which has prompted whole House, whole country is discussing about farmers. More than 50 thousand crore rupees are going to be spent on agriculture directly and indirectly. Farmers will get one and a half time price for their produce. If even a single ill person, a poor man manages to save his life due to our budget, then in my view we would succeed in discharging our responsibility of public welfare state. We should consider involving Panchayat representation in
Jeevan Suraksha Bima and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana. One railway zonal office is required in our State Jharkhand as it is administered from four railway zones. I would like to request that one railway zonal office may be opened in Jharkhand.
SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI: Unprecedented change has been witnessed in the villages and in the life of poor and farmers. This Government is continuously making efforts to materialise the dream of development. Prime
Minister has resolved to double the farmer's income by 2022. This is the first time when more than 50 per cent of Budget amount has been proposed to be allocated for farming community. The compensation of more than Rs. 400 crores has been disbursed in my Constituency alone. The Prime Minister's Irrigation Scheme has been formulated to supply irrigation water to every farm land. Soil Health Card
Scheme has been implemented in which the farmer can get his field's soil tested and can have a hands-on information about nutrients required thereby ensuring increase in production. One and half time cost of crops has been fixed as minimum support price for farmers. Ujjwala Scheme has been launched to provide free gas cylinders to the families of 8 crore consumers including 2 lakh families in my constituency. A new trend should be introduced from Kashmir-Udaipur of
Rajasthan to South India to boost tourism and propagate our historical heritage.
Electrification and doubling of railway tracks is in full swing. The pace of construction of National Highways has doubled. The rural people especially rural youths will have opportunity to integrate themselves with rest of the world through
High Speed Broadband connection which further will provide them avenue of self- employment and skill development. A new scheme in the form of Eklavya
Vidyalaya has been initiated in this Budget to provide education to tribals to bring them in the mainstream through the propagation of education. The targets to provide electricity to villages and hutments under the Deen Dayal Gram Jyoti
Yojana and the Saubhagya Yojana have been fixed. The houses in forest areas are being illuminated through solar energy.
SHRIMATI PRIYANKA SINGH RAWAT: There is an urgent need for construction of an underpass between northern railway line and north- eastern railway line in Barabanki to address the problem of 50 thousand people of this region. The land illegally encroached upon by land mafias and goons in Barabanki should be freed. District Barabanki is the largest producer of Mentha in India and
Mentha oil is exported to other countries from here. Mentha cultivators are not getting reasonable price for their produce. Therefore, a research institute and a branch of export promotion committee should be opened in the district. MSP should be fixed for Mentha oil and it should be covered under crop insurance scheme. Banana, potato, tomato, sugarcane are main crops in Barabanki, therefore,
Food Processing Industries should be encouraged there. There are also two important religious places in this area. If once Barabanki junction via Deva,
Fatehpur upto Suratganj is connected with mainstream of railway, this area will be developed speedily and new industries will come up. There is a need to establish
Government college for women in the district headquarter and also in the Block
Fatehpur. The construction of by-pass is necessary for the redressal of problems.
This area will be developed speedily with the construction of dam on Ghagra river.
SHRI BIRENDRA KUMAR CHOUDHARY: I appreciate the Budget presented by the hon. Finance Minister. This Budget is a balanced Budget for all sections of the society and areas of the country. India is predominantly an agricultural country and special attention has been paid towards the farmers. The
Finance Minister has set a target to double the income of the farmers by the year
2022. The Minimum Support Price of agriculture produce has been fixed one and half times more than the cost price. The agriculture loan to the farmers during the year 2017-18 has been increased to ten lakh crore Rupees. A provision has been made to develop 22000 rural 'haat' as rural agriculture market for safeguarding the interests of the small and marginal farmers. A record allocation of Rupees fourteen and a halfa lakh crore has been made for villages and agriculture sector.
Making provisions of loan through credit cards to the farmers is a welcome step. Dalits, Adivasis, backward classes and most backward classes have benefitted immensely through Ujjwala Yojana. The move to set up one lakh fifty thousand wellness centers is a welcome step as they will provide healthcare facilities to the rural masses. Setting up of twenty four new medical colleges will facilitate medical education in the country.
SHRI HARI MANJHI: This Budget is focused to strengthen the base of
New India. Attention has been paid to agriculture and infrastructure in the country.
Focus has been made on ease of doing business as well as ease of living. A record allocation of approximately Rs 14.5 Lakh crore has been made for villages and agriculture sector. The decision to provide rebate in income tax to Farmer Producer
Organisation (FPO), created for helping farmers on the lines of cooperative societies is commendable. A provision of approximate Rupees one lakh crore has been made for the development of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the
Budget. The new scheme ‘Ayushman Bharat’ envisaged in the Budget will provide relief to the lower middle class and the poor from the concern of illness. The step to set up about one and half Lakh Health Wellness Centres in all of the big panchayats of the country is commendable. An allocation of about Rs. 6 Lakh
Crores has been made for the development of infrastructure related to Digital India.
SHRI B.N. CHANDRAPPA: This budget has disappointed the people of the country and failed to meet their expectations. The allocation of Rs. 2000 crore is inadequate to meet the objectives of the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS). The NDA government has not reduced the petrol and diesel prices. The
NDA government is unable to find solutions to the problems such as unremunerative farm incomes, unemployment, lack of social security nets etc.
SHRI RAHUL KASWAN: This budget addresses every sector i.e. from agriculture to infrastructure development. The Govt. seeks to improve the standard of Living of the poor as well as the middle class people. 10 crore families are proposed to be covered under health Insurance Scheme. An amount of Rs. 11 lakh crore is sought to be provided to the farmers as loan. An announcement has also been made to provide Rs. 2600 crore under irrigation schemes. The govt. also claim to double the income of farmers by 2022. Adequate attention has been paid in this budget to the requirement of rural areas. Significant achievement has been registered in building roads. More and more attention has been paid to railway safety. Pradhan Mantri crop insurance is a commendable scheme which is required to be properly implemented to benefit farmers.
SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM: I rise to express my support for the Union Budget 2018-19. This year, the Budget has focused on areas that were much neglected. For the first time ever in this country, a transformation in the health sector has been initiated. TB patients will be given Rs. 500 per month for the duration of their treatment. The Government will be setting up 24 new
Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals by upgrading existing district hospitals in the country. The present Government has chosen to give a major focus to the education and social sector. Education sector is the backbone of our country. I am thankful that this Government has taken up this challenge. The
Government intends that by 2022, every block with more than 50 per cent
Schedule Tribe population and at least 20,000 tribal people will have 'Ekalavya' schools, which will be at par with Navodaya Vidyalayas. Improving quality of education is of utmost importance and the Centre intends to work with States to provide the same.
Senior Citizens have been prioritized in the Budget. Exemption of interest income on deposits are proposed to be increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000 for senior citizens. I feel happy that the Government has always kept the interest of women a top priority. The Government has proposed to increase the target of providing free LPG connections to 8 crore economically poor women. For working women, their EPF contributions will be brought down from 12 per cent to
8 per cent. To fulfil target of housing for all by 2022, more than one crore houses will be built by 2019. This is the first time ever that any Finance Minister has decided to keep MSP for all unannounced kharif crops at least one and half times of their production cost after declaring the same for the majority of rabi crops.
Never before the agriculture sector and rural economy was brought under the spotlight as much as it has been done under the leadership of our Hon. PM. The
Centre will work with the State Governments to facilitate farmers for installing solar water pumps to irrigate their fields. Developing infrastructure has been a non- negotiable for this Government.
The Government has made an all- time high allocation to rail and road sectors and is committed to further enhance public investment. Around 6 lakh crore investment has been made in infrastructure which is about 45% higher than last year's allocation. Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations has been taken up and a major focus will be on safety, eliminating unmanned railway crossings, maintenance of railway tracks, and increase in use of technology and fog safety devices has been prioritised. Work on Eastern and Western dedicated Freight
Corridors is in full swing.
The Budget proposes to expand the airport capacity. The Government is striving hard to make Civil Aviation sector accessible to all sections of the society.
The Budget also proposed to seek to provide relief to salaried tax payers by allowing a Standard Deduction of Rs. 40,000 in place of the present exemption allowed for transport allowance and reimbursement of miscellaneous medical expenses. A sum of Rs. 3794 crore has been provided for giving credit support, capital and interest subsidy and for innovations to Medium, Small and Micro
Enterprises. This will boost employment and economic growth. Nearly 84 million people are trying to earn a living from agriculture. Although they seem employed, their employment is not productive, since production would not suffer if they stopped working. How does the Government plan to address this problem? On the health front, the Government plans to launch a flagship scheme to cover more than 100 million poor and vulnerable families. My question is how the Government intends to pay for or implement such an ambitious scheme?
SHRIMATI KAMALA PAATLE: The Budget of 2018-19 is meant for bringing the farmers, villages, poor and weaker sections of the society in the mainstream of the development. Chhattisgarh State is severely affected by
Naxalites. Provision for development of agro based industries, implementation of
Sabla scheme of Department of Women and Child Development and integrated horticulture mission in all 27 districts of the state should be made in the budget. I demand for setting up medical colleges in my Constituency, Janjgir-Champa.
Gondwana Express should have stoppage at Janjgir-Naila and it should run from
Raigad to Bilaspur as Superfast train. South-Bihar Express should have stoppage at
Janjgir-Naila. Another footover bridge should be constructed at Akaltra, Janjgir-
Naila, Champa, Bardwar and Sakti stations. I demand to make provisions to expand the sheds at platforms in the budget.
SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI: Medical cover upto Rs. 5 lakh will be given to 50 crore population of the poor and weaker section under Ayushman Bharat.
Provision of Rs. 600 crore has been made in the Budget for providing Rs. 500 per month as food and nutrition assistance to T.B. patients. A medical college should be set up in Sheohar Parliamentary Constituency. The Government should pay special attention to women literacy in my Constituency which is far behind in comparison to other areas. Areas having 50 per cent Scheduled Tribe population will have Eklavya School along with hostels sanctioned for adivasi children. The
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has given a boost to rural literacy. This Budget will further facilitate women empowerment. Free LPG connection has been given to 8 crore women folk through Ujjwala Yojana. A new programme 'Gobar Dhan Yojana' has been proposed for solid waste management. Minimum Support Price for farmers has been increased one and a half time. Agricultural loan has been increased by 10 per cent for agriculture growth. 42 food parks have been proposed in the country.
Target of providing housing for all the poor by year 2020 has been fixed.
Allocation of Rs. 3 lakh crore has been made for self employment and employment under the Mudra Scheme. Priority should be accorded to laying rail tracks in
Sheohar district. Mohini Mandal Railway halt in my Parliamentary Constituency should be upgraded as a railway station. Train No. 15228 and 15227 should be plied from Muzaffarpur to Raxol via Sitamarhi New train should be plied for South
India and Mumbai from Bapudham Motihari.
SHRI NIHAL CHAND: The Budget 2018-19 is actually the Budget for the creation of New India and emancipation of farmers, workers, small entrepreneurs, the poor and the Dalits. The target of providing LPG gas connection to 8 crore more families in the country has been fixed under Ujjwala Scheme. Provision of approximately Rupees Sixteen Thousand Crore has been made to provide electricity connection free of cost to approximately four crore poor families of the country. Decision has been taken to make the Minimum Support Price one and a half times the cost of production. 42 mega food parks will be set up.
Approximately 10 crore families would be covered for Rs. 5 lakh each under the
National Health Insurance Scheme. 24 new medical colleges will be set up.
Eklavya model residential schools will be set up in the tribal areas by the year
2022. A member from Rajasthan should be nominated in the Bhakra Beas
Management Board. A medical college should be set up in Sri Ganganagar.
SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH: In this budget, biggest Health Assurance scheme of the world for healthcare of poor, and lower middle class families on government expense has been launched. "Ayushman Bharat" scheme for treatment of diseases of poor families has been introduced. Dalits, backward people of country including backward districts of Jharkhand are being benefitted from
Ujjwala Scheme. Four crore poor households of the country including Chatra,
Latehar and Palamu of Jharkhand will be given free electricity connection under
Pradhan Mantri Saubhagya Yojana. Two crore toilets will be constructed under
Swachh Bharat Yojana. It has been decided to raise the minimum support price upto atleast one and half times of production cost. Plan has been made to develop storage, processing and marketing facility for special agricultural produce.
"Operation Green" scheme will be launched for vegetables like tomato, onion and potato. An agriculture market infrastructure fund will be set up. A scheme named
"Gobar-Dhan" will be launched to convert Gobar and solid waste into compost, fertilizer, biogas and Bio-CNG. A restructured National Bamboo Mission will be launched to promote bamboo region. Rs. 10,000 crores have been allocated in this budget for Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastucture Fund (FAIDF) and Animal
Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF). The Government will evolve a suitable mechanism to facilitate loans to patta-less farmers without affecting the rights of land-owners. I urge to take decisive steps and to give special promotion to pulses in Chatra, Latehar, Palamu and Garhwa districts of Jharkhand state and special attention should be paid to Laha production including forest produce in the interest of the poor, supressed, oppressed, dalits, adivasis and backward farmers. Under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, targeted to provide Rs. 3 lakh crores as loans. Mudra Yojana will generate new opportunities for self- employment. The Government will contribute 12% of the salary in the EPF of new employees. The Prime Minister Fellowship Scheme has been announced for 1000
BTech students to provide an opportunity for them to do PHD in IIT and IISC. An announcement has been made to set up 24 new medical colleges. 50 lakh youth will be imparted training with stipend under National Internship Training Scheme.
Employment opportunities will be created in sectors like textile, leather and footwear. By 2022, Eklavya schools for Schedule Tribe students on the pattern of
Navodaya schools will be set up. Other local arts and culture will also be promoted in addition to sports and skill development training. I urge to establish secondary education and higher education institutes and Medical College in Chatra Lok
Sabha constituency. About Rs. 6 lakh crores have been allocated for basic infrastructure. The target of the broad gauge conversion of the rail network is fixed. To make air travel easy and convenient, number of airports will be increased more than 5 times. Five lakh wi-fi hotspots will be set up to provide internet facility to 5 crore rural populace. I request that new small and medium irrigation projects should be launched. All senior citizens have been provided tax rebate of Rs. 50,000 per year for health insurance premium and medical expenses.
Several provisions have been made to give relief to middle class and tax paying citizens continuously every year in budget. The Government has resolved to make
New India (Naya Bharat) by 2022 under leadership of Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi ji. Keeping in view, Government has identified 115 ambitious districts to fulfill the dream of an inclusive society. In these districts, Chatra,
Latehar and Palamu districts of Jharkhand have been included. In these districts, social services like health, education, nutrition, skill upgradation, financial inclusion and infrastructure facilities like irrigation, rural electrification, clean drinking water and by investing in access to toilets dynamically and time bound manner, quality of life will improve. One lakh crore rupees have been provided in this budget for development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL: The General Budget presented by the
Government on 01 Feb 2018 is a historic budget and is dedicated to villages, poors, farmers, youths and is a road-map towards radical transformation of India. The ten notable points enumerated in the budget will facilitate the strengthening of India, which includes doubling the income of farmers in next five years; to ensure availability of employment and fundamental infrastructure; to provide education, skill and employment to the youth; to consolidate social security, health facilities and affordable housing; improvement in the infrastructure; promotion of development and stability; digital economy; involvement of the people in the public services; prudent fiscal management; and to honour the honest taxpayers.
The Government endeavours to enhance the productivity and the production and is committed to ensure providing Minimum Support Price the farmers. Farmers will be paid one and half times of their production cost. There has been unprecedented increase in the purchase of pulses, oilseeds and other crops. Institutional framework will be established for Import-Export policy. This budget heralds new reforms for the agriculture markets in order to provide Minimum Support Price of the crop to farmers. Loan at affordable rate will be provided to State Governments,
Co-operatives and the individual investors for fundamental infrastructure of fisheries and animal husbandry. To provide impetus to the agriculture and non agriculture activities a provision of 1290 crore rupees fund has been made for
National Bamboo Mission. This will not only facilitate establishment of small scale industry but will also generate new employment opportunities. There is announcement in the budget about Organic Farming also. With the objective of providing impetus to qualitative medical education and healthcare in the country,
24 new Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals will be established by upgrading the existing District Hospitals. Government will spend more funds on the sources of livelihood, agriculture and ancillary activities and for the construction of basic rural amenities, so that maximum employment opportunities can be generated in the rural areas. Besides the activities connected with agriculture and self-employment, 1.75 crore new house-holds will get electricity connections. Land water irrigation scheme under 'Water to each farm field' will be started in 96 districts. The loan amount of Women Self-help Group and the allocation for National Rural Livelihood programme has been enhanced significantly. This budget will lower the inflation; increase the digital transaction; curb the corruption and black-marketeering; lead to prosperity amongst the poor; provide employment to youth; increase income of farmers; provide housing to the shelterless; empower the women; benefit the small scale traders; strengthen the financial institutes and will enhance the financial discipline in functioning of the
Government.
SHRI JUGAL KISHORE: In this budget, steps have been taken in the interest of farmers, common men and businessmen. The farmers of Jammu and
Kashmir will also be benefitted. Operation Green will prove beneficial even for fruit and vegetable growers. Under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, roads will be connected with prime education centers and hospitals. A road network will be set up under Bharat Mala Programme. Not only is Ujjwala Yojana making the lives of women smoke free but is also acting as a medium for their empowerment. The scheme will benefit dalits, poor adivasis and backward people at a larger scale in the country. The poor will also be able to get free medical treatment under
'Ayushman Bharat'. With new medical colleges being set up nationwide, people will be able to avail medical facilities. In addition to this, there will be more educational and employment opportunities for the youth. Every house will have light under Pradhan Mantri Saubhagya Yojana. By 2022 every poor household will have their own house under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. I request that a superspeciality hospital with OPD facility should be set up in Jammu till construction of AIIMS is completed. A special package should be given to Jammu for the development of pilgrimage sites and Uttar Sampark Kranti Express running between Katra and Delhi should halt at Manwal for 2 minutes.
SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL: This budget is a very important step towards a healthy India. The Government is going to open 1.5 lakh centres to provide health care services near the doorstep under 'Ayushman Bharat' for which 1200 crore rupees have been allocated. In this budget, the Government has announced the world's largest government funded health scheme, the National Healthcare
Protection Scheme which will benefit the poor people of India. Through this budget, the Government has ensured that the farmers receive one and a half times more than their production cost and the Government has fixed the minimum selling price of Kharif crops one and a half times more than their production cost. Facility of Kisan credit card has now been made available to the Indians dependant on fishery and animal husbandry. Ujjwala scheme has benefitted crores of poor women. Through this budget, the Government has increased the number of LPG connections to be given to women to 8 crores which earlier used to be 6 crores.
Under Pradhan Mantri Saubhagya Yojana 4 crore poor people will be given free connections for which the Government has allocated Rs. 16000 crores. I extend my support to all other decisions taken in the budget like construction of 2 crore more toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission, allocation of 1200 crore for Bamboo mission, 10,000 crore for Animal Husbandary, 5750 crore for National Livelihood
Scheme and 14.34 lakh crore for employment generation. 52719 crore rupees and
39,139 crore rupees were allocated for social inclusion work and schemes for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively. I come from an extremely backward district and here due to lack of health facilities several people lose their lives. Therefore, I request that a Multispeciality Hospital be opened at Siddharth
Nagar so that the children and people of Siddharth Nagar and its surrounding areas get benefitted from it.
SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR: The Government's focus on strengthening the agricultural and rural economy will mark the ushering of New
India by 2022. The Government has increased MSP for all kharif crops at least one and half times of their production cost. The setting up of a Fisheries and Aqua culture Infrastructure Development Fund (FAIDF) for fisheries sector and an
Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) for financing infrastructure requirement of animal husbandry sector will certainly double the income of our Indian farmers by 2022. The allocation of Ministry of Food
Processing industries has been doubled from Rs. 715 crore in 2017-18 to Rs. 1400 crore in 2018-19. Loans to women SHGs has been increased and under Ujjwala
Scheme, free LPG connections will be given to eight crore poor women. The phenomenal move by Government to launch the "Prime Minister's Research
Fellow (PMRF)" Scheme this year will be a game changer. I thank the Finance
Minister to set up a science city in Himachal Pradesh. The heralding of world's largest Government funded health care programme titled National Health
Protection Scheme will be a Happy India Scheme. The Government has given a big thrust to medium, small and micro enterprises (MSME) to boost employment and economic growth. Himachal Pradesh got Rs. 1202 crore of MUDRA loans which led to creation of hundreds of new jobs in MSME sector in 2017-2018.
Over 3600 kms of track renewal is targeted during the current fiscal.
Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations is being taken up. I am grateful to
Government for allocating Rs. 442 crores worth of railway projects to my constituency of Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Una. Under the regional connectivity scheme UdeDeshkaAamNagrik (UDAN) initiated by the Government last year, 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads would be connected. The Government has considered setting up helipad services across Himachal Pradesh. By allocating funds towards establishing two defence corridors, Government is focussing on indigenisation of weapon system development.
SHRI DHARAMBIR: I demand that following public works may be included in this budget: MSP may be reviewed again, all the rivers be interlinked which will easily solve the problem of water in many states including Haryana, a number of projects have been sanctioned for my Parliamentary constituency which include a number of ROBs, underpasses and halt for several trains, out of which a number of projects are pending. All the sanctioned project may be completed at the earliest. The work should be started at remaining three groups of Rai Milkpur to
Bhiwani national highway. Work should be started at the earliest to make Rewari-
Narnaul-Chirawa national highway into four lane. Meerut-Sonepat-Kharkhoda-
Jhajjar-Dadri-Loharu (NH-334B) should be converted into four lane. Rohtak-
Bhiwani-Loharu national highway should be made into four lane upto Loharu.
Bhiwani-Jind-Karnal national highway should be widened to 10 meters instead of seven meters. Hisar-Tosham-Satnali-Kanina-Rewadi new road, for which DPR has been prepared, should be started at the earliest and NH number be issued for this road. Age for old age pension scheme for BPL families and people belonging to scheduled caste should be reduced to 55 years from 60 years.
SHRIMATI R. VANAROJA: The extremely heavy rains during the North
East Monsoon in December 2015 have caused enormous devastation to standing crops, property and public infrastructure besides loss of livelihood, loss of life and cattle. Earlier this year the Tamil Nadu Government, had declared all 32 districts as drought-affected. Tamil Nadu was severely affected by drought and scarcity of water for irrigation. The Government of Tamil Nadu has urged the Union
Government to release Rs. 17,000 crores to expedite the Cheyyur Ultra Mega
Power Project and to speed up the process of establishing the inter-state green energy corridor. Union Government is requested to allocate funds for the establishment of Perfume factory and to sanction adequate funds for the establishment of godowns and storages and to take necessary steps to establish a
Medical College in Chengam in Tiruvannamalai Constituency.
SHRI RAM CHARITRA NISHAD: The following issues needs to be focused. Fisheries should be given the facility like Kisan credit Card, Bamboo is has been excluded from the category of tree and 28 percent GST has been imposed on it at present. It should be brought into O category GST, Andman and Nicobar area which is still quite backward from the aspect of tourism needs to be paid attention.
SHRI SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNAPURIA: This budget is about the welfare of common men. India has been included under the category of fast developed economy during the last 4 years. The concept of Minimum Government and maximum governance alongwith good administration has been thrust upon.
Our Government is committed to provide the benefit of schemes of Union
Government to farmer, poor and weaker section of the society and to the persons of the grass root level. Various facilities like smart roads, solar roofs, intelligence transport system, smart parks are being given under the scheme. Two cities (Tonk
City and Gangapur City) of my Parliamentary Cosntituency are included in this.
Free of cost gas connection has been given under ujjawala scheme. Sukanay
Samridhi Yojna has been introduced and 126 crore accounts have been opened across the country. Pradhanmantri Saubhagya Yojana has been introduced and under this scheme, 4 crore electicity connections have been provided free of cost to poor households. More than 800 medicines are being provided free of cost at more than 3 thousand Jan Aushadhi Kendras . Provision has been made of Rs. 500 per month for the nutrition of T.B. patients by the Modi Government. The facility of hospitalisation has been provided under National Health care scheme to poor families. Indian Railway Station Development Company Limited has started work of re-development of railway stations. Electrification of railway network is being done expeditely. In my constituency from Swai-Madhopur railway station to Jaipur work has been started after sanctioning of Rupees 165 crore for electrification work.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND MINISTER OF CORPORATE
AFFAIRS (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY) replying said: while initiating discussion on the budget, Shri Veerappa Moiley had painted a gloomy picture of India's economy at present and has also said that the period between 2004 and 2014 when the UPA
Government was in power, was the real period when the Indian economy was doing well. But he should remember that that was also partly a period till 2010 between 2003 and 2010 when there was a boom in the global economy and when there is a boom in the global economy, there is a corresponding beneficial impact.
During the UPA, nobody spoke in terms of Indian economy being the bright spot in the global economy picture. It only happened now. In 2014-2015, 7.4 per cent
GDP growth was the highest growth in the world; in 2015-16, 8.2 per cent GDP growth was the fastest growth in the world and in 2016-17, 7.1 per cent GDP growth was the highest growth in the world. The International Monetary Fund has rated that India will be the fastest among the global economies in the next two years. The Hon. Member from Telangana referred to India moving up on the Ease of Doing Business rankings. If we make necessary reforms which we are now individually trying to make, I think there is a huge possibility of India moving up the ranking itself. Whether it is agriculture or it is poverty alleviation or it is creating more employment, there are challenges in these areas and these challenges have not arisen only in the last four years. There has been historical backwardness.
There has been lack of policies in the past. Therefore to say that after four years some of the challenges still remain is not proper. I cannot recollect between 2004 and 2014 a single structural reform of the kind being taken that we have undertaken in these 4 years. During UPA regime, fiscal deficit was over 6 per cent.
When we came into power, it was 4.5 per cent. This year we trying to bring it upto
3.2%. So, this Government is sticking to fiscal prudence for the last four years and will continue to do so in coming years. As regards Aadhar, the previous
Government prepared a draft law, but the draft law said that this is the procedure by which Aadhar will be created. However, the law was silent as to what purpose it will be used. It was absolutely silent on the privacy requirements. Finally, when we relooked at that law, we put in a full chapter as far as privacy is concerned. So far as GST is concerned, countries all over the world have taken years together to stabilize the GST. As regards GST rates, even your Congress Governments and their Finance Ministers are privy to all the unanimous decisions that we take. We started rationalizing the rates. Earlier 31 per cent duty was charged if we take into account cumulative effect on commodities. We brought it down to 28 per cent. As revenue collection is increasing, we are trying to bring it further down to 12 percent from 18 per cent. When our Government came into power, the Opposition had demanded to cap it at 18 per cent. I want to ask whether a same kind of tax can be imposed on goods for common man and luxury goods while there is such huge BPL population and disparity among population in the country. Again regarding GST roll out, it was said that it was hastily brought. But this very House had passed the constitutional amendment on GST by two-third majority and all the states had also passed it. Then there was an informed political advise to postpone it. But that was a complete charter for anarchy which was being suggested to postpone it when a constitutional deadline of 16th September, 2017. As regards revenue to the States, we not only gave them revenue assurance but also said that the State will have 14 per cent increase over 2015-16 base. The year prior to demonetization India's growth was 7.1 per cent. This year we assume to grow about 6.7 per cent. This is the impact of GST. On 1st July we touched the lowest growth rate of 5.7 per cent in that quarter. The service sector grew by 8 per cent and manufacture sector grew by 1.5 per cent. This was the impact of GST on one quarter. In this budget I took care of middle class, senior citizens and salaried class.
The total cost of relief to the salaried class is 8000 crore; to the pensioner and the senior citizens it is 4000 crore. To the entire SME sector, upto Rs. 250 crore, I reduced the tax rate of small and medium enterprises by 5 per cent. An issue of price rise was raised by an Hon. Member but the she has forgotten that the inflation rate during UPA regime was 11-12 per cent. Today it is little bit higher than 4 per cent. Regarding long term capital gains I want to say as per last year data the exempted income on long term earnings from the stock exchange is Rs. 3,67,000 crore. Some of these are small investors. So we said that on profit upto one lakh there is no tax. So, we have imposed 10 per cent tax in this regard. It is being said that price of Rafale deal should be disclosed. But it is in larger interest of India's security that the price is never disclosed. Even the previous Defence Ministers in replies given before Parliament have said that details of government expanses on purchases on arms and weapons systems are classified in their nature and also divulging these details in this regard to the House would not be in the interest of national security. So I want to say that we are as much accountable to Parliament as the UPA Government was. There is a set of system which we have followed consistently. When the State of Andhra Pradesh was created by bifurcation, some of us had actually fought for the rights of people of Andhra Pradesh. We have given so far funds as promised for a large number of institutions which are being created there.
As far as creation of capital is concerned, we have made some payment on account of capital. We have made payments for the backward districts. For Polavaram also, Rs.
4.5 crore have already been paid through NABARD. The State had wanted money to come by way of externally aided projects. We have worked an arrangement yesterday in the meeting. We may try and expedite that as soon as we get consent of the State
Government. As far as revenue is concerned, we are trying to narrow that gap and bridge that gap. As for some other institutions like Railways, Petroleum etc., we are already in discussion with various Ministries. We are trying to find out the solution in this regard. We are extremely sympathetic to the people of Andhra Pradesh.
The discussion was concluded.
SNEHLATA SHRIVASTAVA Secretary General
© 2018 BY LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NOTE: It is the verbatim Debates of the Lok Sabha and not the Synopsis that should be considered authoritative.
English and Hindi versions of Synopsis of Debates are also available at http://loksabha.nic.in.