As the Budget Session 2021 commenced on Friday, President Ram Nath Kovind, while addressing both houses of the Parliament, spoke on a range of issues from the Republic Day afters protests to the steps the government has taken to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
While several opposition parties including the Congress, TMC, NCP and Shiv Sena, boycotted the President’s joint address, Kovind also highlighted the need to for a joint session of the Parliament.
Here are some of the highlights from Kovind’s speech:
On the Republic Day protests
Calling the incidents from Republic Day unfortunate, he spoke about lessons on law and order from the Constitution. “The insult of the holy day like the tricolor and the Republic Day happened in the past is very unfortunate. The Constitution that gives us the right to freedom of expression, the same constitution teaches us that law and rule should be followed equally seriously,” he said.
On the Farm bill and on going farmers protests
The President said that the three farm laws, that have seen massive protests by farmers since they were passed, had been passed after much deliberation and that there had been no reduction in rights and facilities of farmers.
“My government wants to make it clear that before the formation of the three new agricultural laws, there was no reduction in the rights and facilities which were under the old system. Rather, through these agricultural reforms, the government has given new rights to farmers as well as new rights,” he said.
Covid Vaccine Diplomacy
While India has been lauded by many for its vaccine diplomacy, the latest accolades came from the President himself. He said, “It is a matter of pride that India is running the biggest vaccination program in the world. Both vaccines of this program are made in India. In this crisis India shouldered its responsibility towards mankind & provided lakhs of doses of vaccines to several nations.”
India had gone into three months of lockdown since March and experts had said it helped reduced the number of cases in the country. President Kovind said, “I am satisfied that the timely decision taken by my Government saved the lives of lakhs of citizens. Today the number of new COVID cases is going down rapidly. The number of recoveries is very high.”
On India’s stand-off with China
Saying the government was fully committed to the interests of the country, President Kovind said, “In June 2020, 20 of our soldiers made their supreme sacrifice in the Galvan Valley to protect the motherland. Every countryman is grateful to these martyrs… My govt is fully committed to protecting the interests of the country and is also vigilant. Additional forces have also been deployed to protect India’s sovereignty over the LAC.”
On India’s economy
Ahead of the Budget during a time when India’s economy suffered greatly because of the pandemic, Kovind said, “
In this period of Corona, the country has started recovering from the damage done to the economy amid efforts to save the life of every Indian. Even in these difficult times, India has emerged as an attractive place for the investors of the world.”
On Kashmir
Over a year after the abrogations of Article 370 in Jammua and Kashmir, the President said that the people had supported the government’s policy of development. He said, “Only a few weeks ago, for the first time since independence, the Zilla Parishad elections in Jammu and Kashmir have concluded successfully.”
