THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT
CPI(M) Parliamentary Office
or reload the browser
CPI(M) Parliamentary Office
THE budget session of parliament started on January 31 with President Droupadi Murmu’s address to a joint sitting of both houses. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim budget on February 1.
Speaking on the motion of thanks on the president’s address in the Rajya Sabha, A A Rahim said the president was very eloquent about the ‘pran pratishtha’ at the Ayodhya Ram temple. It was pointed out as the biggest achievement of this government. How can a government portray Ram temple as their biggest achievement in a secular country like India? In this context, I would like to remind you of the Shiva pratishtha done by Sree Narayana Guru in my home district of Trivandrum in 1888. After the Shiva pratishtha, Sree Naryana Guru inscribed the message of secularism and humanism under it. At the same time of pran pratishtha, three churches were attacked in Madhya Pradesh. What is the message given by this attack? This government has been trying to divide people. Stop divisive politics and start talking about the distress of the common people. Talk about inflation, unemployment. The president's speech has turned out to be nothing more than a speech filled with empty claims and inflated figures and that have no connection with the social reality of our country. The policy announcement was expected to describe where our country is today and how the government should formulate policies for the future. Throughout her 31-page speech, the president never used the word "unemployment", the elephant in the room.
The unemployment rate has risen to 10.09 per cent last October, according to data of the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy. The educated youth labour force is begging in the ‘market’ for jobs. In response to a question, the government has said that not a single new post was created through Rozgar Melas and only appointments were made to existing vacancies. This is the reality. Lakhs of posts are lying vacant in institutions under the union government. Unemployment, under-employment and contractualisation of labour are the three major evils that are faced by the Indian youth. The Agnipath scheme is a tremendous example of contractualisation of the Indian job sector. Even the recruitment in the Army is becoming contractual. Instead of permanent appointments, the government is recruiting contract labourers in the banking sector, insurance sector, and even in the railways and PSUs. The Narendra Modi government is not creating new jobs and has no intention of filling up permanent vacancies. A large number of India’s educated youth, who are gasping with unemployment, are part of the gig economy. The well-educated youth are working in companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Uber and other unorganised sectors at cheap wages. They are working from street to street irrespective of rain, summer and winter. There is not a single mention of such gig workers in the address. There are no specific plans or schemes for their welfare. This is not an Amrit Kaal, this is Mrit Kaal for the Indian youth.
Inflation is increasing exponentially in the country. Retail inflation in India has increased to 5.69 per cent, according to NSO data. Moreover, inflation is higher in rural areas than in cities. This has led to an increase in prices of commodities, including vegetables and food items. The Union government has completely failed to control the price hike of essential commodities. The poor are becoming the poorest. Very shamefully, I would like to say, the government claims this is an Amrit Kaal at a time when the country ranks 111th on the Global Hunger Index! Even on this day of Budget, the price of commercial gas cylinder increased by Rs 15! Does the government have the courage to say how many times the prices of petrol, diesel and gas cylinder increased during their Amrit Kaal, since 2014, and at what percentage? Like petrol and diesel, this government does not have any control over airfare. The Indian private carriers are looting domestic travellers and non-resident Indians. The government does not have control over anything that is directly affecting livelihood of the common people. In short, they are re-writing the mantra of Indian democracy ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’ as ‘of the corporate, by the corporate, for the corporate.’
Speaking on the motion in the Lok Sabha, A M Ariff said that, on behalf of the CPI(M), I wish to register my strong disagreement on the motion. I still want to know why the president, who is the full authority of this Parliament, was not invited to the opening ceremony of our Parliament building. I hope the prime minister will respond during his speech. It was a pity that the president, who was excluded from the consecration ceremony of Ram temple, was forced to say that the construction of Ram temple was one of the achievements of the government. People could understand that the president, who is a widow and belongs to a Scheduled Tribe community, was out of all these functions. At the same time, the government claims to be doing a lot for women and talks about Nari Shakti Vandan and upliftment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. I am disappointed to state that the president’s address neither has any vision nor any direction to build an India to match the aspirations of the common people of this country. Instead, it contains only rhetoric and jargons to deceive the people of this country, as also mentioned by earlier speakers. The president told us that this new parliament is imbued with the fragrance of ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’. This has been built on the remnants of our age-old tradition of ‘unity in diversity’, which held this pluralistic country together for centuries. It includes religious minorities and linguistic minorities. But you are trying to exclude them from the ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’. The core of ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’, as envisaged by the BJP government is ‘Hindi’, ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hindustan’. This is the ideology of Savarkar. In continuation of division of this country in the name of religion by the Britishers, the government is trying to divide this country in terms of language by imposing Hindi as a national language, against the aspirations of the non-Hindi states and the people of our country. In paragraph 6, our president has boasted that her government brought in important legislations and enacted them with cooperation from all. But what happened in the last session? The government has not felt ashamed to ask the president to read such a false statement in this house. The president forgot that during the last session, 10 important legislations were passed without proper discussion when 100 members from this house as well as 49 members from Rajya Sabha were suspended. The president presented the achievements of her government one by one very proudly in her speech. But she failed to mention the failures of her government.
Participating in the discussion in the Rajya Sabha, John Brittas said the president has been made to read out the election manifesto of the BJP. As expected, there has been a mention about Ayodhya thrice. In all the speeches, without Ayodhya, without Prime Minister, no speech is complete from the treasury benches. We are passing through a very difficult time. The astrologers will teach you science. The government will teach you technology. Amit Shah and Arif Mohamed Khan together will teach you harmony between states and the centre. All of a sudden, the BJP has become law-abiding, even during the pran pratishtha, there was a reference to the Supreme Court. Are they inflicted with selective amnesia? Is it not a fact that the same Supreme Court said that there was a conspiracy, a calculated act and an egregious violation? It further said that desecration in 1949, leading to the ouster of Muslims and its eventual destruction in December 1992, constituted a serious violation of the rule of law. Ram belongs to us also. My Ram is Mahatma Gandhi’s Ram of compassion, of harmony and love. You also have a Ram, but there is a prefix to that. You know what is the prefix? Their Ram is Nathuram. That is the difference. That is the difference between our Ram and your Ram. Nowadays, we cannot distinguish between the prime minister and the high priest. I don’t know whether our prime minister is the high priest or the high priest is the prime minister. If there is a political programme, it will be turned into a religious programme. If it is a religious programme, it will be turned into a political programme. They all accused us of staying away from Ayodhya. What did the Shankaracharyas do? Will you send ED and CBI after Shankaracharyas? All of them stayed away because they did not want to be a part of this political drama which the BJP-led government is trying to whip up in Ayodhya. I don’t want to dispute with pran pratishtha, because these are times when human beings will have to give pran to Gods. That is it. But the primary responsibility of the prime minister is to give pran to the citizens. He should go to Manipur and conduct pran pratishtha for citizens.
THE budget session of parliament started on January 31 with President Droupadi Murmu’s address to a joint sitting of both houses. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim budget on February 1.
Speaking on the motion of thanks on the president’s address in the Rajya Sabha, A A Rahim said the president was very eloquent about the ‘pran pratishtha’ at the Ayodhya Ram temple. It was pointed out as the biggest achievement of this government. How can a government portray Ram temple as their biggest achievement in a secular country like India? In this context, I would like to remind you of the Shiva pratishtha done by Sree Narayana Guru in my home district of Trivandrum in 1888. After the Shiva pratishtha, Sree Naryana Guru inscribed the message of secularism and humanism under it. At the same time of pran pratishtha, three churches were attacked in Madhya Pradesh. What is the message given by this attack? This government has been trying to divide people. Stop divisive politics and start talking about the distress of the common people. Talk about inflation, unemployment. The president's speech has turned out to be nothing more than a speech filled with empty claims and inflated figures and that have no connection with the social reality of our country. The policy announcement was expected to describe where our country is today and how the government should formulate policies for the future. Throughout her 31-page speech, the president never used the word "unemployment", the elephant in the room.
The unemployment rate has risen to 10.09 per cent last October, according to data of the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy. The educated youth labour force is begging in the ‘market’ for jobs. In response to a question, the government has said that not a single new post was created through Rozgar Melas and only appointments were made to existing vacancies. This is the reality. Lakhs of posts are lying vacant in institutions under the union government. Unemployment, under-employment and contractualisation of labour are the three major evils that are faced by the Indian youth. The Agnipath scheme is a tremendous example of contractualisation of the Indian job sector. Even the recruitment in the Army is becoming contractual. Instead of permanent appointments, the government is recruiting contract labourers in the banking sector, insurance sector, and even in the railways and PSUs. The Narendra Modi government is not creating new jobs and has no intention of filling up permanent vacancies. A large number of India’s educated youth, who are gasping with unemployment, are part of the gig economy. The well-educated youth are working in companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Uber and other unorganised sectors at cheap wages. They are working from street to street irrespective of rain, summer and winter. There is not a single mention of such gig workers in the address. There are no specific plans or schemes for their welfare. This is not an Amrit Kaal, this is Mrit Kaal for the Indian youth.
Inflation is increasing exponentially in the country. Retail inflation in India has increased to 5.69 per cent, according to NSO data. Moreover, inflation is higher in rural areas than in cities. This has led to an increase in prices of commodities, including vegetables and food items. The Union government has completely failed to control the price hike of essential commodities. The poor are becoming the poorest. Very shamefully, I would like to say, the government claims this is an Amrit Kaal at a time when the country ranks 111th on the Global Hunger Index! Even on this day of Budget, the price of commercial gas cylinder increased by Rs 15! Does the government have the courage to say how many times the prices of petrol, diesel and gas cylinder increased during their Amrit Kaal, since 2014, and at what percentage? Like petrol and diesel, this government does not have any control over airfare. The Indian private carriers are looting domestic travellers and non-resident Indians. The government does not have control over anything that is directly affecting livelihood of the common people. In short, they are re-writing the mantra of Indian democracy ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’ as ‘of the corporate, by the corporate, for the corporate.’
Speaking on the motion in the Lok Sabha, A M Ariff said that, on behalf of the CPI(M), I wish to register my strong disagreement on the motion. I still want to know why the president, who is the full authority of this Parliament, was not invited to the opening ceremony of our Parliament building. I hope the prime minister will respond during his speech. It was a pity that the president, who was excluded from the consecration ceremony of Ram temple, was forced to say that the construction of Ram temple was one of the achievements of the government. People could understand that the president, who is a widow and belongs to a Scheduled Tribe community, was out of all these functions. At the same time, the government claims to be doing a lot for women and talks about Nari Shakti Vandan and upliftment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. I am disappointed to state that the president’s address neither has any vision nor any direction to build an India to match the aspirations of the common people of this country. Instead, it contains only rhetoric and jargons to deceive the people of this country, as also mentioned by earlier speakers. The president told us that this new parliament is imbued with the fragrance of ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’. This has been built on the remnants of our age-old tradition of ‘unity in diversity’, which held this pluralistic country together for centuries. It includes religious minorities and linguistic minorities. But you are trying to exclude them from the ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’. The core of ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’, as envisaged by the BJP government is ‘Hindi’, ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hindustan’. This is the ideology of Savarkar. In continuation of division of this country in the name of religion by the Britishers, the government is trying to divide this country in terms of language by imposing Hindi as a national language, against the aspirations of the non-Hindi states and the people of our country. In paragraph 6, our president has boasted that her government brought in important legislations and enacted them with cooperation from all. But what happened in the last session? The government has not felt ashamed to ask the president to read such a false statement in this house. The president forgot that during the last session, 10 important legislations were passed without proper discussion when 100 members from this house as well as 49 members from Rajya Sabha were suspended. The president presented the achievements of her government one by one very proudly in her speech. But she failed to mention the failures of her government.
Participating in the discussion in the Rajya Sabha, John Brittas said the president has been made to read out the election manifesto of the BJP. As expected, there has been a mention about Ayodhya thrice. In all the speeches, without Ayodhya, without Prime Minister, no speech is complete from the treasury benches. We are passing through a very difficult time. The astrologers will teach you science. The government will teach you technology. Amit Shah and Arif Mohamed Khan together will teach you harmony between states and the centre. All of a sudden, the BJP has become law-abiding, even during the pran pratishtha, there was a reference to the Supreme Court. Are they inflicted with selective amnesia? Is it not a fact that the same Supreme Court said that there was a conspiracy, a calculated act and an egregious violation? It further said that desecration in 1949, leading to the ouster of Muslims and its eventual destruction in December 1992, constituted a serious violation of the rule of law. Ram belongs to us also. My Ram is Mahatma Gandhi’s Ram of compassion, of harmony and love. You also have a Ram, but there is a prefix to that. You know what is the prefix? Their Ram is Nathuram. That is the difference. That is the difference between our Ram and your Ram. Nowadays, we cannot distinguish between the prime minister and the high priest. I don’t know whether our prime minister is the high priest or the high priest is the prime minister. If there is a political programme, it will be turned into a religious programme. If it is a religious programme, it will be turned into a political programme. They all accused us of staying away from Ayodhya. What did the Shankaracharyas do? Will you send ED and CBI after Shankaracharyas? All of them stayed away because they did not want to be a part of this political drama which the BJP-led government is trying to whip up in Ayodhya. I don’t want to dispute with pran pratishtha, because these are times when human beings will have to give pran to Gods. That is it. But the primary responsibility of the prime minister is to give pran to the citizens. He should go to Manipur and conduct pran pratishtha for citizens.
Speaking on the motion in the Lok Sabha, P R Natrajan said the economic and social issues were kept away from the president’s speech. The policy announcement was expected to describe where our country is today and how the government should formulate policies for the future. But the president's speech turned out to be one that did not do justice to anything of the sort. The speech, which cited the Ram temple in Ayodhya as an example of government excellence, raises doubts whether it is a policy statement of a democratic secular country. In the section mentioning the achievements of the government, the president mentioned that the centuries-old wish of the people of Ram temple in Ayodhya has come true today. This remark is a clear indication of the way the country is moving forward under BJP rule. The President, who listed the achievements of the Modi government including the Citizenship Amendment Act and the removal of Article 370 of the Constitution, which was passed by subverting the parliamentary proceedings, declared loudly that the hallmark of this government is the destruction of democracy and the policy of communalism. Any difficulties or hardships experienced by the poor and the people belonging to the minority and backward sections of the country are not part of the policy announcement. It is clear from the President's speech that the problems faced by the poor and the workers are not influencing the policy making of the government. The fact that many of the projects mentioned in the speech to praise the government’s interventions in the fields of infrastructural development, poverty alleviation and women empowerment were only announcements that were not useful to the common people, calls out the hollowness of this policy announcement.
or reload the browser
or reload the browser
