THE Budget Session of Parliament began on January 31 with President Droupadi Murmu's address to a joint sitting of both the Houses. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2025-26 on February 1. Overall, the budget was disappointing as people had high expectations from it. There is nothing in the budget for the general public. The expectation that the budget would strengthen the public sector and help generate more employment in the country has not materialised. There are no measures aimed at curbing price rise. The budget was aimed to “help” the incumbent BJP-led NDA in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

In the Rajya Sabha, John Brittas, CPI(M) MP, opposed the motion of thanks on the President’s address. He said that when the finance minister was presenting her ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ budget, Zakia Jafri, who had to run from pillar to post for more than two decades to obtain justice for her husband killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, breathed her last. She had been running for justice not just for her but also for those people who were killed in the riots. Her husband, Ehsan Jafri, was a Member of Parliament and he was killed brutally. This is the fear psychosis that is spreading in this country. I will talk about the situation of the minorities. What has happened in Sambhal? Digging is going on. A claim is set even to Ajmer Dargah. Every year, the bishops host the Prime Minister for Christmas. It is not out of adoration or admiration but out of fear, virtual fear. Last year itself, in 2024, there have been 834 attacks against the Christian community.

A dalit, who mounted on a horse for his baraat, was pulled down saying how can a Dalit mount on a horse. An inter-faith couple came from the US to have their feast in Aligarh. They virtually ran away from the place. This is the extent of fear that has crept into the society. The President spoke about federalism. I have to ask: Is not Kerala a part of this country? There was Wayanad tragedy. Not even a single pie has been given to Kerala! In the recent budget, Kerala has been ignored completely.

The centre wants to hijack all the state universities built with the sweat and blood in the last 10 years! 78 per cent of the new universities which have come up are either state universities or private. But the guidelines the governor, or the viceroy, will decide who should head these universities. What are the states for? The aim is concentration of powers in the hands of the centre. Scientific temper as part of the Indian Constitution is getting undermined. Seven lakh Indians are to be deported from the United States because of Trump's policy, which is going haywire. There is mayhem. What is our strategy? A minister talked about skill development. China's DeepSeek has created waves. Even from the Rs 552 crore allocated for the Artificial Intelligence Mission last year, do you know how much they have spent? They hardly spent Rs 173 crore. And they talk about artificial intelligence. The Waqf Bill is another ploy to create polarisation.

Speaking on the motion in the Rajya Sabha, A A Rahim dedicated his speech to Zakia Jafri, the two women who were paraded naked in Manipur during the ethnic strife there, and a dalit woman who was brutally raped, murdered and thrown into a canal in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh this month. India has become a country of those who are denied justice, of those who have lost their lives under the bulldozer-raj, and where the minorities are unable to live in peace. How long has it been since the two women in Manipur were paraded naked, an incident that forced India to lower its head before the world? I would like to ask a question. Where has that case reached now? Has the government been able to ensure justice for them? Why is the prime minister not going to Manipur? Even in Parliament, crucial data is missing. When I asked for data on violence against churches, the response I received was that the union government does not have such data. Atrocities against the Muslims, Christians, dalits and other marginalised communities are on the rise in this country. Instead of stopping these acts, the government is supporting the perpetrators. Even the Supreme Court had to intervene to prevent the attempts to incite riots in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. If violence and insecurity continue to rise, how can the country progress economically? According to the Economic Survey report, the country’s growth rate has been consistently declining. Instead of fuelling riots and violence, the government should focus on the country’s economic growth. The President’s address is just a script filled with empty promises. It does not mention price hikes. It does not mention unemployment. It does not address the growing inequality in this country. There is no mention of climate change or any plan to combat it. India’s capital which has been promised to become carbon-neutral by 2050 does not even have clean air. Today’s Air Quality Index is 294, which is very unhealthy and poor. BJP MPs participating in this discussion claim that India is standing tall before the world, yet this government has failed to fulfil the promises it made to the international community. We had stated earlier that internships alone will not solve the country’s unemployment crisis. You introduced internship scheme saying that it would be the solution to unemployment. But today, the finance minister told this House that this is not an employment opportunity. This is just an exposure. We do not want exposure, we want permanent jobs. We want dignified salary. The people of this country are suffering from skyrocketing prices, growing unemployment, and increasing inequality. Yet the government remains indifferent. Farmers are struggling here, workers are being exploited and students are facing an uncertain future. While the government makes grand announcements, there is no real effort to improve the lives of ordinary citizens. The ruling party focuses on spreading division and suppressing dissent instead of addressing the real concerns of the people.

Speaking on the motion in the Rajya Sabha,  V Sivadasan said that the world is changing. New technologies such as artificial ontelligence are emerging. In the health sector, researchers are developing many new medicines. In Kerala, decades ago, our popular science movement coined a slogan in Malayalam which means, ‘to cure diseases, we need medicines, not holy water’. But, now in India, the director of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) suggests drinking cow urine instead of modern medicine! He claims that the disease will disappear within 15 minutes. Where did he get this inspiration? He got it from the ruling party. They are promoting pseudoscience and trying to ruin the scientific temper of our great nation. They are not willing to invest in developing education and  research. Why? It is only to promote their political agenda through pseudoscience and superstition. In one hand they are promoting pseudoscience and on the other they are trying to utilise modern science and technology to promote their political ideology. India is the most populous country in the world. China, our neighbour and the second most populous country, spends Rs 43 lakh crore on research and development. In contrast, India spends only Rs 1.4 lakh crore on education and research, which is less than 4.4 per cent of China's expenditure. How can we become a vishwaguru without the power of knowledge? Scientists, teachers and other government employees had an expectation of getting their pensions, but now their life is uncertain. In India, earlier, the employees had a statutory pension scheme. But, then NPS – ‘no pension scheme’ – was introduced. Now, you have introduced UPS – ‘useless pension scheme’ – for employees. They are talking about cooperative federalism, but they are practising corporate federalism. That is why they have introduced a draft guidelines for the UGC. It will destroy the autonomy of universities, and a new autocratic master will be appointed. In Wayanad, Kerala, a few days ago, a poor farmer was killed by a tiger. In 2022, eighty-two people were killed by tigers in Maharashtra and Odisha, 154 people have been killed by elephants. What is the condition here in MP flats, in the VP house, in South Avenue? Animals seem to be ruling there. The government should amend the Wildlife Protection Act, which was introduced by the Indira Gandhi government and further strengthened through an Amendment by the Vajpayee government. No value is being given to human life. Tigers are attacking people in our country, but the government is spending crores of rupees to bring in more big cats, cheetahs, from Namibia. The treasury benches love bulldozers but hate tractors as they are working against the farmers. India is a great nation with the legacy of anticolonial struggles. But the ruling party and the government are continuously attacking the legacy of the nation. But, times will change. The night of oppression will end, the light of justice will come.

Speaking on the motion in the Lok Sabha, S Venkatesan said this government is ignoring the needs, rights and pride of the Tamil Nadu government. Only a metro rail network of 54 km is operational in Tamil Nadu. Where is the metro rail network for Madurai and Coimbatore? The Tamil Nadu government has been raising these question time and again. We also raise this question in this House. But the Union government has failed to answer these questions till now. It was mentioned in the President's address that the private sector will be allowed to get into mining activities of rare minerals. I humbly request in this House to screen the documentary film produced by Tamil Nadu on the finding of the existence of iron technology in Tamil Nadu about 5,300 years ago. Similarly, governors are making the rights of the state governments a question mark. They think of themselves as kings of a small kingdom. I want to categorically stress that if the government want to bring this House under the control of one particular language, the representatives of other major languages in this House would never ever allow it.

In the Lok Sabha, Amra Ram took part in a discussion on the Budget 2025-26. He said the Budget does not have any progressive measure for farmers, poor, youth and the  common people of this country who were suffering from. The government had said that the income of farmers will be doubled, but it has not happened. At the same time, prices have increased manifold. Diesel which was Rs 50 per litre is available at Rs 95 per litre now. DAP which was Rs 400 is available at Rs 1,400. The country cannot prosper unless 80 per cent of the villagers are prosperous. Peace will not come to the country if Ambani and Adani become prosperous and rich. This government has increased economic inequality in the country to the highest level. The allocation for MGNREGA has come down from Rs 1.15 lakh crore 10 years ago to  Rs 68,000 crore today. Also, there is a guarantee of work of 100 days. Today people do not get work even for 40 days. You can see that today the poorest are troubled the most.

The common people are suffering from inflation, the youth is suffering from unemployment, and instead of giving anything to the common people, tax is being collected from them. I think it would have been better if the government had imposed four per cent tax on the big companies which are billionaires and reduced the indirect tax on the public.

Today neither the farmer is happy, nor the youth is happy and nor the worker is happy. Today there is no guarantee of minimum wage. There is no legal guarantee of MSP. Not a single promise made to the common people has been fulfilled in this budget.