February 5, 2024
Md Nadimul Haque’s Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address
Sir, thank you for allowing me to speak on the Motion of Thanks to the President. The hon. President in her Address mentioned Amrit Kaal thrice and Viksit Bharat seven times. These phrases make good media bites. But I would like to know from the Union Government, since it is the Government which has written the Speech, what exactly do these terms means. Are there any concrete definitions? In the face of these vague terms, let me give you some hard facts. The President said in her Speech, “Now, for the first time in our lives, we are witnessing eradication of poverty on a massive scale.” What about the 15 crore people in India who are still poor? And, this number is based on their report. I can speak for ten minutes on why the methodology adopted for calculating this number is wrong. The actual number is much higher, but let us go with it. If 15 crore people are poor, then why does the Government keep on harping on the fact as to how it is giving free ration to 80 crore poor people. Is this Amrit Kaal? And, for the poorest of the poor, you further push them into poverty for political vendetta. In the States, where you can’t win democratically, you deliberately starve them of funds. This is fiscal federal terrorism. Sir, 21 lakh poor MNREGA workers have not been paid for two years. An amount of Rs.6,900 crores is due to Bengal under MNREGA alone. Another amount of Rs.9,300 crores is due under Awas Yojana, and Rs.7,000 crores is due for paddy procurement. Overall dues worth over Rs.1 lakh crores are there. I was listening to my colleague here and I was seeing that the Treasury Benches were laughing. They should hear to the voice of the people. I would like to say: “कहकहों मेंनहीं, आँसुओंमेंपलतेहैं, वह इन्कलाब जो जमानेका �ख बदलतेहैं।”z قہقہوں میں نہیں، ا وه انقلاب جو زمانے کا ُرخ بدلتے ہیں۔ They want to deprive Bengal, but even then, our Government under Ms. Mamata Banerjee will keep working for the people. The Bengal Government will release all the MNREGA dues to 21 lakh people from our own State funds. Please learn from Bengal. Bengal is better than the BJPrules States in the matter of poverty alleviation. The Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index in Gujarat is 9 per cent. In Assam, it is 14.5 per cent. In Uttar Pradesh, it is 15 per cent. In Madhya Pradesh, it is 21 per cent. In Bengal, it is just 8 per cent. Where are the two crore jobs that they had promised? Two out of five graduates do not have jobs. Almost half of the youths are unemployed in this country. Is this ‘Viksit Bharat’? What does the Government have to say about almost 10 per cent food inflation? Look at the prices of essential commodities as compared to 2014. The price of rice has gone up by 56 per cent, wheat by 59 per cent, milk by 61 per cent and tur dal has gone up by 120 per cent. Is this ‘Amrit Kaal’? The hon. President mentioned the word ‘farmer’ 11 times in her Speech. Let me give two data points. According to the NCRB’s latest data, 30 farmers commit suicide every day. Sir, 700 farmers reportedly lost their lives during the farm law protests. Why did this happen? It happened because the opposition to the draconian farm laws was bulldozed in Parliament. Eventually, they had to repeal them. The hon. President mentioned the word ‘double’ in her Speech nine times, but did not talk about doubling farmers’ income. How many times was this promised? Please learn from Bengal. Farmers’ income has not only doubled in Bengal, but it has tripled – from Rs.91,000 to Rs.2.9 lakh. They have been in Government for ten years now. We did this in 2018, in just nine years. Now, let me come to the issue of health services. A CAG Report revealed that more than 7.5 lakh beneficiaries of the Government’s prized Ayushman Bharat Scheme were invalid. In Madhya Pradesh, over Rs.1.1 crore was paid to about 400 patients who were declared dead in the data base. In this also, the cost is shared between the Union and the State Governments. In Bengal, the Swasthya Sathi Scheme covers 2.4 crore families. The entire cost is borne by the State. It is completely cashless and paperless. It provides free tests and treatment in all Government hospitals. So, please learn from Bengal. Now, let us talk about minority welfare. The hon. President mentioned the word ‘minorities’ only once in her Speech, that too about providing citizenship to minorities from other countries, but what about the welfare of minorities living in India? In 2023-24, the Ministry of Minority Affairs saw a 38 per cent slashing of funds receiving one of the lowest budgetary allocations in terms of key social welfare Ministries. The Maulana Azad Foundation saw a deduction of 99 per cent funds. Schemes that support minority students in clearing public service exams got nothing. The BJP’s governance model operates as a bulldozer raj demolishing minority establishments, altering names, erasing people and rewriting history. Today, our children navigate a divided India where sections of the society live in uncertainty. They watch Members of Parliament use communal sledge in Parliament without facing any consequences. They face cultural vilification, political persecution and economic boycotts. अमृत काल सेदेश में क्या बदलाव आया है! Nothing except that patriotism is now defined by the colour of the dress, the food that we eat and the names we are born with. Sir, we talk about amrit kaal but the last Assembly Elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held ten years ago. The J&K Reorganisation Bill which stripped J&K of its Statehood was passed in 2019. The Supplementary List of Business reached the Members at 11.18 a.m. while the Bill was introduced at 11.07 a.m. It was discussed and passed the very same day. The Government promised that black money will be recovered from tax havens abroad. In Panama, Paradise and Pandora Papers leaks, names of thousands of rich Indians were revealed who had parked black money in different tax havens. Sir, I demand a white paper from the Government on this issue. No more empty promises; let the people know it. The Bharatiya Janata Party is destroying institutions. I have enough data to prove this. Great institutions like Parliament, Election Commission, CAG, CBI, ED, RBI are all being destroyed. Even the majestic Supreme Court has not been spared. It is now being called the ‘subservient court’. There is disturbing talk about bench fixing industry. The Parliament cannot look away. Let me put some questions to the Government. Why has the Indian Prime Minister not held a single Press Conference? Why did the Lok Sabha not have Deputy Speaker in the last five years? Why has the Committee on Security in Parliament Complex not been reconstituted in the last five years? Why has not a single BJP Member of Parliament been suspended in the last nine years where as 146 Members of Parliament were suspended in the last Winter Session of Parliament for demanding a discussion on the security breach in Parliament. I am concluding, Sir. Sir, para 29 of the President’s Address talks about India’s global ranking in various sectors. Let me add something to that. India ranks 93rd in the Global Corruption Index, 111th in the Global Hunger Index, 117 in the Inclusiveness Index, 126th in the Global Peace Index, 127th in the Global Gender Gap, and, 150th in the Press Freedom Index. Is this Viksit Bharat? Sir, I end with one couplet – “बहुत बब�द हैंलेिकन सदा-ए-इंक़लाब आए, वहीं सेवो पुकार उठेगा जो ज़र� जहांहोगा। इंक़लाब आएगा रफ़्तार सेमायूस न हो, बहुत आिहस्ता नहीं हैजो बहुत तेज़ नहीं।।”
