SPEAKING on the Manipur Appropriation Bill 2025 in the Rajya Sabha, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharyya asked what prompted the Manipur Budget to be placed in Parliament? We talk about being the ‘mother of democracy’, but democracy has been shattered when you find that the Indian Parliament has to take up the Appropriation Bill for Manipur. Our prime minister has given a new theory, that of ‘double-engine sarkar’. Are we going on reverse gear? Manipur was the first place where Netaji  Subhash Chandra Bose came with INA for India’s Independence and that was really a historical event. Now, this Manipur, which was known to the people as a State of religious amity, a State of brotherhood, has been destroyed by the BJP government over the last few years. If you go there, you would be shocked to see the reality of what has happened there. Schools have been destroyed. Missionary schools have been destroyed. The two communities are now standing face to face like in a war. This is the contribution of the government there. And now, the double engine having failed there, you come back to Parliament and speak aloud that the Prime Minister has done such a beautiful thing there.  Now, because of this misrule and governance, the Manipuri people are in such a position that they cannot sit with each other; they cannot talk with each other. They think that they have been deprived of the basic democratic rights given by the Indian country. And they have started asking, ‘Modiji, do you think we are a part of India or not?’ I thank the Prime Minister that he did not go to Manipur...as he does not talk in terms of the unity of the Indian people. What is the allocation for education? All these institutions have been destroyed and brought down to the ground by the miscreants, absolutely on the encouragement of forces spreading religious disunity. You talk in terms of religion. You do not talk in terms of the Indian people's amity and fraternity. You talk in terms of the values which were not really part of our Constitution. And, we now have the Manipur Appropriation Bill before us in Parliament. I would like to tell you,  that whatever allocation they may make, it would not bring back peace for the Manipuri people ultimately. To bring back peace for the Manipuri people, let us inculcate the culture of fraternity, let us inculcate the culture of dignity of people and go forward towards building unity. Let them feel that they are a part of India; they are not alien. You have made them feel that they are alien. Now they are thinking that they will have a separate administration. Who has prompted them to think like this? It is only the BJP government. When the situation was normal, you have made it worse. You did not take any step. Now, imposition of President's Rule is not good for the Indian democracy. Your double-engine government has failed. Therefore, do not speak of double-engine government again. Rather, think of concentrating on decentralisation of power and giving everybody equal power in terms of their strength and in terms of their own culture, education, language, etc. Don't try to impose anything from the Centre. That would really break the country. 

Participating in a discussion on the demand for grants pertaining to the Ministry of Railways for 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha,  Sachithanantham R said the Indian Railways is a commercial undertaking of the union government, but the railways' main aim is to serve the people of India. It was well-developed under the public fund contribution. A lot of land, buildings, and several lakh kilometres of tracks are now assets of the Indian Railways. All these assets are used for our country’s development. Our country, in the dictionary of the Modi government, is not meant for the poor people, but for the upper class and the corporates. The passenger trains operated by the Indian Railways are now converted into express trains. It affects poor persons. For the upper-class people, Vande Bharat and Tejas trains are introduced at high ticket fares. The concession fare for senior citizens and press persons is also denied in your Budget. There are only four Amrit Bharat non-AC trains comprising 12 sleeper classes and eight general coaches. As many as 136 Vande Bharat chair car trains are operational, but Vande Bharat AC sleeper trains are yet to be operated. Four Bharat Gaurav trains, operating for the cultural heritage sites, are the Modi government’s model trains. We demand that Amrit Bharat non-AC passenger trains be operated for poor passengers. More than 6,000 people from Tamil Nadu have passed Computer Based Test-1 conducted by RRB for the vacancies of loco pilot. They have qualified for CBT-2. It has been announced that CBT-2 will be held on March 19, but most of the examination centres are outside Tamil Nadu. A lot of candidates have to travel 1,000 km to reach Telangana. I would request the minister to shift the centres to the respective states. Regarding allocation to Tamil Nadu, an amount of Rs 6,626 crore has been allocated to Tamil Nadu in the current Budget, whereas other states have been allocated more. The INDIA-bloc-ruled states are given less allocation, whereas other states are given huge allocation of funds. Electrification of railways in Tamil Nadu is 95 per cent complete. It is good, but the tunnel maintenance is the worst in Tamil Nadu. Most of the tunnels are surrounded by water during rains. I would request the government to identify and resolve faults in the ongoing projects. There are 77 stations in Tamil Nadu under the Amrit Bharat Stations Scheme. I would request the government to expedite the work. Additionally, I would urge the government to construct separate freight corridors for coal, cement, steel, iron, and food grains. We demand new tracks on the Dindigul-Karaikudi and Dindigul-Sabarimala routes. We also have a demand for separate trains from Dindigul to Chennai via Trichy. In Dindigul district, there are opportunities for enlarging the goods sheds at Reddiyarchatram and Vadamadurai stations. A huge part of land has been used for the goods shed. Also, Kodaikanal Road railway station is a heritage station where the train service was suspended due to COVID-19. It has been there since the British times. I request the government to resume the services at that station. There is also a need for a stoppage at Ambaturai railway station for Vaigai Express and Mysore Express.

In the Lok Sabha, Amra Ram spoke on the demand for grants for the Ministry of Jal Shakti for 2025-26. Water is essential for human beings, agriculture, plants and trees, and every life. Even after 75 years of independence of our country, today half the country is submerged in floods and the other half is battling with drought. The government has announced many big schemes. But what is the outcome? In the past 10 years, this government has written off Rs 16.39 lakh crore of big companies. This amount could have been utilised to solve the problems like flood, famine, shortage of drinking water and employment. The government is concerned about big companies but is not concerned about the thirsty people of this country. As far as Rajasthan is concerned, drinking water is arranged through the Indira Gandhi Canal. The people of Rajasthan have to drink polluted water from this canal in the rainy season and due to this, people are suffering from many incurable diseases even today. Seventy per cent of the state's people use underground water. Due to this, underground water has been exhausted in 80 per cent of the places. Seventy per cent of the population in Rajasthan is suffering from many diseases due to drinking fluoride-contaminated water. If normal water of an area is tapped, even today 87% of the land can be irrigated. Everyone can get pure drinking water. But there is no pure water, there is no water, there are only announcements.

Participating in a discussion on the demand for grants for the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in the Rajya Sabha, V Sivadasan  said that health is the right of the people. But I am sad to say, India is the country that has the largest number of children who die due to lack of medical treatment. India is a country that has the largest number of mothers who die during childbirth due to lack of proper medical attention. Yet, the government is spending only a pittance on public health. In 2014-15, the health budget of the union government was 0.31 per cent of the GDP. But, in 2025-26, it is only 0.27 per cent. Even then, 18.68 per cent of revised estimate had not been utilised as on 31st January, 2025, which is Rs 16,000 crore. But this government is not ready to give money to the states. Sir, according to the data on health expenditure of governments, in US, it is 13.9 per cent; in Germany, it is 10.1 per cent; in Canada, it is 7.9 per cent and in UK, it is 8.9 per cent. But in India, the Union government is spending only 0.27 per cent. Even if we consider the combined expenditure of the Union and states, it is only 1.2 per cent of the GDP. They have spent thousands of crores for the statues, but they are not ready to spend money for hospitals. What is  the vision for the development of health sector? In health sector, Kerala is the most advanced state in India. The development of Kerala society is equivalent to the developed countries and because of that they are trying to punish the people of Kerala. There is too much noise from this side. A Union minister told Kerala to become backward for getting funds from the Union government. They have imposed a lot of irrational conditions on Kerala for getting funds. Do you know what the conditions are? They are not asking for more doctors. They are not asking for better healthcare medicines or infrastructure. But they have asked to change the name of the board in health centres. We, Malayalis, call the Primary Health Centres as ‘Prathamik Arogya Kendram’. They have said, ‘Don’t use Malayalam boards’; they asked us to put another board in another language with which we are not familiar. They are targeting our culture and targeting our language. But they are not ready to provide money for changing the scanning machines and x-ray machines in hospitals. To change the name and colour is their hobby. They have not released Rs 637 crore in the name of colour change and  language change. It is extreme cruelty shown to the people of Kerala. Till now, they did not consider our request for AIIMS. In India, a large number of government hospitals are running without sufficient number of doctors and nurses. I asked a question to the government regarding the number of doctors in our hospitals including the state government hospitals. But they have given the answer that they do not have the data. I wonder without data how they can make their policy. ASHA workers are requesting for increase in incentives from the Union government. Now, they are giving only Rs 1,200 to ASHA workers as their incentive. They are not considering ASHA workers as workers.  Kerala is giving the highest honorarium to ASHA workers in our country. But some of the Congress leaders from Kerala have no courage to tell the truth. The union government is not ready to invest money for the infrastructural development of hospitals. Instead, they are promoting insurance schemes which ultimately benefit corporate houses. It is plundering money of the people. For protecting the health sector of the nation, we should resist privatisation and commercialisation in health sector. Together, we will fight for a better health system for our  nation. The Government of India should spend more money on health sector. This is our request.